Yona Deshommes, Publisher
Yona Deshommes began her professional career in education as a certified teaching assistant and Academic Coordinator at Edwin Gould Academy, a residential treatment center in Chestnut Ridge, NY where she created and facilitated several cultural and educational programs for at-risk youth from the juvenile justice and foster care systems. Her love and passion for writing led her to a 15-year career in book publicity where she served as an Associate Director of Publicity at Atria Books, an imprint of one of the largest publishers in the world, Simon & Schuster. In August 2020, she entered a new chapter in her career by establishing her own company, Riverchild Media, a public relations firm specializing in promoting, Riverchild Media, a public relations firm specializing in the promotion of books by and for authors of color. In December of that same year, she and 4 other professional colleagues formed Collective 5 Entertainment, a literary, talent management, public relations, marketing /branding firm. Her most recent endeavor is the launching of her LIVING OUT LOUD literary series, where she features authors who live their lives unapologetically and on purpose. Ms. Deshommes graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Special Education and earned Master’s in Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from the City College of New York. She is a proud member of the Tau Gamma Zeta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, and lives in Haverstraw, New York.
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