CLA Board of Director Candidate Statements for the 2026-2028 Term

We are excited to share the slate of nominees for the 2025 elections to the CLA Board of Directors. Five candidates have been nominated and you will be able to select three candidates who will serve a three-year term from January 1, 2026- December 31, 2028. Be sure to cast your vote during the voting period, October 6-October 15, 2025.  

All candidates responded to the following prompt:
"The Children's Literature Assembly (CLA) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a professional community of children’s literature enthusiasts who advocate the centrality of literature in children’s academic and personal lives. We believe every teacher needs a wide and extensive knowledge base of books published for children and young adults. With this in mind, please create a statement for the ballot (200-word maximum) that speaks to how you envision working with and for the Assembly as a Board Member. Please include any relevant information within your statement."
Below you will find the candidates' statements listed alphabetically. You will be asked to vote for 3 candidates. The three nominees with the most votes will be selected to serve.

Josh Coleman, Arizona State University

Children’s literature is political, and today, rising censorship through book banning legislation and educational gag orders has reinforced this reality. As a member of the board of CLA, my goal will be to support teachers, researchers, and their students to address classroom censorship. This focus extends from my National Academy of Education funded research study that interviewed teachers, librarians, professors, and other educational stakeholders from across the state of Iowa. Entitled “Banned Childhoods,” this study traced the implementation and impact of a book banning bill, Senate File 496, across the 23-24 school year. Listening to 70 firsthand accounts of censorship in schools informs my desire to expand my impact, by sharing pathways for resisting censorship on a national scale.

As the 2023 Early Career Awardee and Research Awardee for CLA, I intend to orient the organization to be a national leader in championing free speech. Moreover, as a member of the Ways and Means Committee and chair of the Early Career Award, I look to continue my service as a CLA board member. I am sincerely honored by the nomination and thank you to each member for your consideration. I am grateful.

Gina Doepker, The University of Texas at Tyler

I am a passionate advocate for the centrality of children's literature in the lives of all students. My professional experience as a Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Texas at Tyler has been dedicated to helping my undergraduate students love reading by connecting them with books that resonate with their individual interests and experiences.

My vision for working with the Children's Literature Assembly is rooted in collaboration and empowerment. I am committed to advancing the CLA goals by providing a dynamic forum for teachers to share resources and best practices, and by promoting the crucial role of children's literature in both academic and personal growth. I will champion programs that showcase the power of diverse literature in the classroom, ensuring every educator feels equipped to guide students toward a lifelong love of reading.

Tiffeni Fontno, Vanderbilt University

I am honored to be considered for the Children’s Literature Assembly Board. As Director of Peabody Library at Vanderbilt University, my work centers on the belief that children’s and young adult literature is essential to academic success, identity affirmation, and social justice. I bring over two decades of experience as a teacher, librarian, and researcher, with a focus on literacy, equity, and culturally relevant pedagogy.

My teaching and scholarship—including a course on children’s literature, research on Black boys’ reading motivation, and collaborative projects such as open-access literacy databases—reflect my commitment to expanding access to diverse texts and empowering educators with knowledge of the field. Through initiatives like the Nashville Black Literacy Coalition and advocacy around book bans, I have worked to ensure that children and communities see themselves in stories and that their voices are protected.

As a CLA Board member, I would build on this foundation by fostering collaboration among educators, librarians, and scholars to promote children’s literature as a transformative force. I am committed to strengthening our collective voice in advocating for the centrality of books in children’s academic and personal lives.

Courtney Shimek, West Virginia University

My love of children’s literature stems from conducting read-alouds in preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade classrooms in South Carolina. Now, as an Assistant Professor at West Virginia University, I ensure that children’s literature is an essential component of our undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs. I conduct research examining how nonfiction picturebooks, are used in early elementary classrooms, as well as how children’s literature shifts over time. I was one of the founding members of The Biography Clearinghouse, which developed resources to help teachers incorporate biographies into their classrooms. I ground my research, teaching, and service in my experiences as an educator, as well as in the lived experiences of the children and teachers I work with daily in West Virginia.

I view my potential role as a Board Member of the Children’s Literature Assembly as an opportunity to advocate for readers. I believe the goal of the Assembly should be to serve the needs of the organization's members, specifically children, teachers, caregivers, and other consumers of children’s literature and young adult books. At this current historical, cultural, and sociopolitical time in our world, I can’t think of a more rewarding or necessary responsibility. I am honored to be considered.

Rebecca Stortz, The University of Texas at San Antonio

I am Rebecca Stortz, a literacy faculty member of the educator preparation program at my university since 2013. I forefront my teaching of children’s and young adult literature by amplifying and uplifting the voices of authors and illustrators from diverse perspectives. As a consummate reader of children’s literature, I design course content that encourages my students to read widely and variedly to develop their own sense of how broad and creative these texts can be. As an educator in children’s literature courses, I am also passionate about developing innovative and effective ways my teacher candidates can delve deeply into stories and bring them alive for their own future students. My research explores children’s  literature through various textual formats, seeking patterns and pathways that can provide teachers and young readers with frameworks for understanding.

As a Board Member of the Children’s Literature Assembly, I would work to encourage literacy research surrounding children’s and young adult literature. I would also seek ways to promote our community’s work and knowledge via non-traditional avenues such as exciting new virtual education spaces. 
VOTING IS NOW CLOSED
You will be asked to log in to your CLA account to access the ballot.
Voting begins on Monday, October 6th at 9 am EST. Please submit your ballot by Wednesday October 15th, 2025 at 5 p.m. EST.

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