Anna Bond
Anna Bond is Managing Director at Octopus Publishing Group and a member of the Hachette UK Group Executive Board. Prior to that she worked at Pan Macmillan for 17 years in various roles culminating in the role of Sales and Brand Director, on the Pan Macmillan Executive Board. She is a passionate believer in the power of reading to develop children’s imagination, empathy and creativity. She has witnessed this first hand when working with the incredible list of authors and illustrators at Macmillan Children’s Books and when reading with her own three sons.
Hazel Broadfoot
Hazel Broadfoot has owned Village Books (Dulwich), an award-winning family bookshop in south-east London, for over twenty years. She has been a director of Waterstone’s and National Book Tokens. She was encouraged to read books from an early age and was lucky to grow up in a village with a brilliant library: this led to her reading English at the University of St Andrews. As a result of her own experience she is a passionate believer in the power of books to change children’s lives and is committed to supporting the work of World Book Day. She lives in London.
Rachel Calderon
As Deputy Director for Partnerships & Philanthropy at Blood Cancer UK, Rachel leads a team focused on generating high net worth donations from Corporates, Trust & Foundations, Major Donors and Special Events. Prior to this, she spent 10 years at King’s College London leading the International Major Donor team and working on the £600 million Campaign generating transformative gifts for medicine, scholarships, and the arts. She is currently part of the Tony Elischer Foundation Mentoring Programme designed to support inspire fundraising leaders of the future.
Rachel is a passionate supporter of education and social mobility and sits on the Advisory Board of IntoUniversity, a charity focused on inspiring marginalised communities to access higher education. Rachel graduated from UCL and studied her master’s degree at LSE. She currently plays for the London Phoenix Orchestra and spends the weekends running around the park after her kids.
Dan Conway
Dan Conway became CEO of the Publishers Association in 2022, having previously been the membership organisation’s Director of External Affairs and leading the team responsible for policy, public affairs, communications, media relations, research & statistics. Alongside his role at the Publishers Association, he is a Board Trustee for World Book Day, and Non-Executive Director at Publishers’ Licensing Services.
Prior to his time at the Publishers Association, Dan’s career focused on public affairs and politics and he has held senior roles at TalkTalk and within leading communications agencies.
Dan has a degree in English Literature from the University of Cambridge.
Jonathan Douglas
Jonathan Douglas is Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust. Previously he was Head of Policy Development at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, where he also worked as Head of Learning and Access. Prior to that, he was Professional Adviser for Youth and School Libraries at the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. He has also worked as a librarian and in children’s services for Westminster Libraries. Jonathan is on the Advisory Committee of the Booker Prize, a trustee for The Philosophy Foundation and is Chair of Governors at his local primary school.
Richard Flint
Richard Flint is President of Europe for Claire’s Accessories. Prior to this, he served as Chief Growth Officer and Executive Board Member at HEMA and was the Vice President, Direct-to-Consumer at Nike for 10 years across Asia, Europe, and Central Eastern Europe.
“I am inspired and driven to create greater access and inspiration to young readers everywhere. It is important that no matter which background or circumstance reading is both available and fun.”
Meryl Halls
Meryl Halls has been Managing Director of the Booksellers Association since April 2018. Her career at the Booksellers Association began with event and conference management. She later became Head of Membership Services, responsible for establishing programmes and campaigns, including the Independent Booksellers Forum, Independent Bookshop Week, the Books Are My Bag campaign, the Children’s and Christian Bookselling Groups, Irish and Scottish initiatives and other BA events. She is Vice Chair of the Independent Retailers Confederation, Policy Board Member of the British Retail Consortium, Executive Committee member of the European & International Booksellers Federation and a Trustee of World Book Day.
Sandeep Mahal
Sandeep MahalSandeep Mahal is a collaborative and inclusive leader in the arts, libraries and cultural sector. As Director of Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature she oversaw the growth of Nottingham as a vital place of creative exchange and celebration for literature, and built Nottingham City of Literature from a fledging arts organisation into a key part of Nottingham’s civic fabric. She has nurtured a new generation of voices whilst championing Nottingham’s literary scene internationally.
Sandeep is a Clore Leadership Fellow, a trained facilitator and has collaborated with people and organisations to explore possibilities and opportunities for creative and leadership development. She has consulted on strategies to embed diversity, inclusivity and equality at the heart of organisations.
As an Associate Consultant at People Make it Work Sandeep has facilitated national programmes such as Culture Reset and the Cultural Education Partnership peer learning programme. She chaired the international UNESCO Cities of Literature Network from 2017 to 2021.
Will Obbard
Will is Commercial Director at Merlin Entertainments and responsible for New Business Development, Insight and B2B sales & marketing partnerships.
Will is a qualified accountant having started his career in finance at KPMG before moving into Strategy Consulting and Mergers & Acquisitions advisory.
At home he has three daughters who love reading and World Book Day!
Rebecca Sinclair
Rebecca Sinclair is Chief Brand Officer at Penguin Random House responsible for the company’s brand, communications and central marketing division. Her focus is on leveraging the power of the Penguin brand to drive commercial and social success underpinned by a mission to “make books for everyone, because a book can change anyone”. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Brand at Pearson where she also ran corporate affairs in Asia based in Singapore and headed up communications for Penguin globally. She is a member of the Publishers Association council.
“I am driven by a firm belief that books and reading really can change lives and a commitment to share our authors, stories and ideas with the widest possible audience. We know that reading is the single biggest determining factor in a child’s future success so it is vital that every child has access to books, not only for the joy they give but also the opportunities they unlock.”
Emma Scott (chair)
Emma Scott is Chair of World Book Day. She is also the CEO of Cultivation Partners, which advises senior leaders on strategy and innovation across broadcasting, podcasting, publishing and the creative industries.
Prior to this Emma was the CEO of Beano Studios, where she powered the transformation of the Beano from an 80 year old comic to an International Emmy nominated global kid’s TV franchise and a high-growth digital and ecommerce platform.
Emma has inspired and driven the conception and growth of ground-breaking TV and digital content throughout her career. From her previous role as Chief of Staff for the BBC Director-General to launching Freeview, the UK’s first free digital TV platform. She went on to spearhead the creation and development of market-leading Freesat, the UK’s streaming and digital TV services joint venture between the BBC and ITV Plc.
In a Non-Executive capacity Emma has been the Vice Chair of both the medical research charity, Ovarian Cancer Action and The Royal Television Society.
Nicole Vanderbilt
Nicole Vanderbilt, UK Managing Director for Bookshop.org has been with the company since its launch in the UK in November 2020. The site has generated more than £3 million in profit for the over 570 indie bookshops on the platform. Nicole has over 25 years of experience in the consumer internet industry, most recently as VP, International at Etsy where she helped almost one million small, creative businesses sell over $1.5bn online annually via Etsy’s platform. She is passionate about the importance of reading for pleasure and its power to change children’s lives.
