​Our Team
​

​Rebecca Constantino, Ph.D.
Founder & Executive Director

Rebecca Constantino holds a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy and Learning. Among many awards, she has received the “Oprah Winfrey Use Your Life Award,” been recognized as a CNN Hero, and received the Dorothy C. McKenzie Award for Distinguished Service to the Field of Children's Literature from Children’s Literature Council. She has published a book and more than 100 articles about literacy development, equity in education, urban schools, and cultural perspectives of language acquisition. Having lived and worked in numerous countries, she was involved in language and literacy development programs in Russia, South Africa, and Eastern Europe. She taught Language Acquisition and Reading courses at the University of California Los Angeles, the University of California Irvine, and Pepperdine University. Her favorite children's book is Caps for Sale, which she read with her children when they were young. Now that her children are older, they enjoy family conversations about books and what everyone is currently reading. Two of her children are adopted and she was active in the foster care community for several years. Rebecca considers this an extension of her main mission in life: to support equity in families, schools, and communities.

​Meghan Cason, M.L.I.S.
Library Program Director

Meghan Cason joined Access Books in 2008. Passionate about information literacy, children’s literacy, and social justice, she holds a B.A. in journalism from Arizona State University and an M.L.I.S. from U.C.L.A. In addition to her work for Access Books, Meghan is the Digital Resources & Reference Librarian at Los Angeles Valley College. Raised in a chaotic home with little money to buy books, Meghan found a refuge in libraries. Her favorite books were Charlotte's Web, From the Mixed Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and anything by Judy Blume. 

Nadia Gonzalez
Special Events Director and Corporate Liaison

Nadia Gonzalez was born and raised in Los Angeles and founded Puente Strategies (a communications, media, and partnerships practice) after 10 years of experience working in journalism, media relations, and social impact program development. Prior to launching her practice, Nadia worked with Spectrum Sports Networks and in close collaboration with the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Dodgers and LA Galaxy media and community relations teams. Before that, she directed community affairs efforts for a Major League Soccer team in Los Angeles and prior to hat, she was part of the communications team for the Partnership for LA Schools, led by the former Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. Very early in her public relations career, Nadia worked at the Los Angeles Unified School District at Univision KMEX TV Los Angeles and ABC Network News in Los Angeles. She loves too many children's books to pick a favorite

​Lorri Kampfner
Volunteer & Site Coordinator

Born and raised in Northern California, Lorri moved to Manhattan Beach with her husband Rob, son Roberto, and daughter Isabel in 2007. She is a graduate of California State University where she earned a B.A. in journalism. Lorri worked for several years as a paralegal before becoming a stay-at-home mom. One of her favorite children’s book is Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen.

Sydney Kysar
Mural Program Coordinator

Sydney Kysar started volunteering with Access Books in 2013 and became the first artist-in-residence. With a passion for archives and storytelling, Sydney worked in audio and video restoration up until getting her degree in Animation from Marist College in 2021. Sydney is now a full-time illustrator and animator and continues with Access Books as its Mural Program Coordinator. Her favorite children's book is ​No David! by David Shannon..

​Claudia Magana
​On-Site Coordinator
​
Claudia Magana has always known that a student’s success and appreciation of reading transfers to adults who love to read.  As a result, she has focused on creating environments where reading is easily transferred from the home, school, and library experience to daily life. Her professional career has taken her from youth intervention and prevention programs, parenting classes, the classroom, and currently school libraries. Being a lifelong learner, she majored in Sociology and minored in English at California State University. This has helped encourage children and youth to use their curiosity to foster reading and inquiry in their lives.  Claudia has a strong drive to bring the love of reading and learning to all, in a variety of situations. Claudia credits her mother for always encouraging and modeling reading which created her love of reading to this day.  Where the Wild Things Are is one of her favorite children’s books.

Anne-Marie Reyes
Library Collection Coordinator

Anne-Marie Reyes is a singer (opera is her first love) who thrives on the joys of art through music and reading. Prior to joining Access Books in 2021, Anne-Marie volunteered in her children’s elementary school library, organizing books by subject, assisting with book sale drives, and helping library staff prepare for end-of-the-year inventories. Anne-Marie’s strong attention to detail has helped her manage state-of-the-art record keeping systems for local schools. She has tirelessly worked to ensure that students have access to the books that live in their libraries, hearts, and minds. Some of Anne-Marie’s childhood favorites were "Bread and Jam for Frances" by Russell Hoban, "The Frog and Toad" series by Arnold Lobel, and "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech, to name a few. Now she loves sharing these books with her children as well as reading their favorites together like “Are You My Monster?” by Amanda Noll, “Dragons Love Tacos” by Adam Rubin, and “The Bad Guys” series by Aaron Blabey.

Spike Dolomite Ward
Director of Development

Spike Dolomite Ward has been active in the nonprofit sector of Los Angeles for over 20 years. She started her own arts education nonprofit for low income public schools in 1999 and wore every hat necessary to start and grow the organization. She has led other nonprofits, consulted for others, served on various boards, and has helped raise a lot of money for many worthy causes. As Director of Development for Access Books, she has had the pleasure of securing grants from foundations and corporations large and small. Spike loves art, cooking, writing, and dogs. Her favorite book is Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse.

​Isabel Acedo
Social Media Coordinator

From Los Angeles, Isabel Acedo, driven by a lifelong love of reading and writing, earned a B.A. in English at California State University, LA. While completing undergrad coursework, she worked as a college-level English tutor in East LA. She is currently enrolled in San José State University's MLIS program, which, in the summer of 2023, allowed her to intern with Access Books as a library collection coordinator's assistant. Learning valuable librarianship lessons from the Access Books internship enabled her to become an elementary school library aide. She continues to be a part of the Access Books family as the organization's social media coordinator. Her favorite children's book is Stellaluna by Janell Cannon.

Sam Silva
Library Collection Assistant

Initially a volunteer for Access Books, Sam Silva now works alongside Anne-Marie Reyes in updating and managing the record-keeping systems for schools. Sam's love of fiction became prominent at a very young age, which can be attributed to their mother's ritual of reading bedtime stories. Soon, all books available at home were memorized and their mother acquired Sam a public library card. They spent countless hours exploring the various books available, sparking a thirst for knowledge and a passion for learning that still burns bright today. It was only natural for Sam to pursue a B.A. in English from California State University of Los Angeles. Currently, they are completing an A.A. in ASL Interpreting at East Los Angeles College. Sam's favorite children's books were the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine and The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Amanda Collins, M.L.I.S.
Bay Area Program Director

Amanda Collins joined Access Books in 2015. As a school librarian herself, Amanda is excited to be bringing the valuable work of Access Books to schools in need in the greater San Francisco Bay area. Amanda holds a B.A. in History from UC Santa Barbara, and an MLIS from UCLA, in addition to being a fully credentialed Teacher Librarian. The school library played an important role in Amanda’s early life as a child living below the poverty line, giving her access through literacy to worlds of information and fantasy she never would have been able to visit otherwise, and she can think of nothing better than helping to bring strong school libraries to students and schools in need.