Leadership

Sara Howard is a strategist, a storyteller, and a stubborn optimist. She is passionate about equity and social justice, and has spent nearly 25 years leading communications and issue advocacy strategies for numerous local, state, and national organizations. Sara has long been a fan of The Noble Neighbor, and is thrilled to be part of the work to give every kid access to the wonder and joy of books.

Sara’s love of reading dates back to her childhood in New Jersey. One of her most vivid early memories is of reading an excerpted chapter of Anne of Green Gables in her fourth grade English textbook, and feeling utterly heartbroken when the story ended. Thank goodness for school librarians; without hers, Sara might never have known what happened to that little girl with the “face full of freckles.”

This was also the time frame when she developed her keen sense of justice; her elementary school principal once told Sara’s mom that she had never met a child who was so vocal about things that were “unfair.” While it’s unclear whether this was intended as a compliment or a complaint, Sara’s early focus on fairness evolved into a strong desire to help build a better world for everyone that has shaped her life and career.

Sara moved to St. Louis in 2004 with her now-husband, Tony, and has fully embraced her new hometown. Over the years has thankfully lost most of her accent, but she remains fiercely proud of her Jersey roots – and deeply skeptical of provel cheese.

She lives in the Tower Grove South neighborhood of St. Louis City with her husband and daughter. She loves spending time in nature, watching any sporting event other than golf, and painting, a hobby that is teaching her to enjoy the process and spend a little less energy criticizing the product.

Sara struggles mightily to choose her favorite books of all time, but if pressed, she would definitely include The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Kelly Barnhill), Brown Girl Dreaming (Jacqueline Woodson), Gilead (Marilynn Robinson), American Gods (Neil Gaiman), and A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle).

The Noble Neighbor Board Members

Jen Allen is a sales rep for Fujii Associates and represents Abrams, Workman, Sourcebooks, Union Square & Co., HarperCollins Christian, Capstone, and a number of other publishers to Indie Bookstores in the across Midwest. A former teacher and librarian, she has also worked for educational wholesalers as a buyer, cataloger, and curriculum development librarian and as a bookseller at Novel Neighbor. She holds a BA in English from Eastern Illinois University. A rabid reader since childhood, favorites include Little Women, Kelly Barnhill’s The Ogress & the Orphan, Kaitlyn Greenidge’s Libertie, and historical fiction in general. Jen recently moved to the Chicago area and is thrilled to be connected back to St. Louis through the work of The Nobel Neighbor.

Born and raised in the area, Kelly is a proud St. Louisian. After majoring in Sociology and Education at Vanderbilt University, she returned home to begin her teaching career. An educator for 20 years, Kelly has worked in both private and public school as a volunteer, teacher, librarian and administrator.

As a founding member of The Noble Neighbor, she is committed to leading and growing the organization and acting as a partner to local underserved school districts. “I hope by promoting literacy and bringing authors and their books directly to students, we can contribute to making St. Louis a more equitable place. “I’ve always believed that great literature and exposure to books and authors helps level the playing field and can ignite a child’s passion for reading, learning and discovery.”

Kelly stays busy raising three children with her husband Jim. In her free time she enjoys hiking, listening to live music, traveling, exploring the unique neighborhoods of St. Louis, listening to podcasts and getting lost in a good book.

Chris Frills is the Director of School Culture for the KIPP Foundation. Chris has been with KIPP for 10 years operating as a teacher, assistant principal, and founding principal. Chris began his career as a Teach For America corps member and in the second year of the corps, he was named a National Finalist for the Sue Lehmann Teaching and Learning Fellowship. As a Chicago native, Chris realized at a young age the crucial need for high quality educational opportunities for people of color. Chris deeply believes that there is no liberation without literacy!

Patsy works in Development for The Soulard School, a small charter school in the City of St. Louis. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from Loyola University-Chicago and her M.A. in Public Policy-Policy Analysis as a Fellow at The University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has primarily worked with organizations whose mission of service to others she supports. St. Louis is full of entrepreneurs and it is no coincidence that the organizations Patsy has been drawn to are typically led by dynamic and entrepreneurial women — like The Soulard School and The Novel Neighbor.

Patsy was raised in a large family of avid readers and has raised her two daughters to be avid readers as well. Her favorite children’s book is Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. “As one of eleven children the book connects me to the special childhood feeling of being read to by my mother, as well as reading to my own daughters when they were little. It was a luxury to return to that book over and over. I’m passionate about the mission of The Noble Neighbor. I think it is critical for children to have books that are THEIRS, that they can return to again and again, as I was able to with Blueberries for Sal. Doing so gives the reader more power to see themselves in the story and in their own future.”

Ellen was born and raised in St. Louis and loves all things St. Louis, mostly Cardinal baseball. Her family, reluctantly, allows her to give them local history lessons, a gift she received from her grandmother, along with her love of reading. An avid reader, Ellen will read anything recommended to her, but particularly enjoys local history and books that make her laugh. A favorite is Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson, it is a laugh out loud kind of read. Having worked with different non-profit organizations for the last ten years, Ellen has always enjoyed being a small part of something bigger. As a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Noble Neighbor, Ellen is passionate about making books and author visits available to all students, regardless of their zip code.

A native of the Washington DC area, Jane holds a bachelor’s degree in Business with a concentration in Marketing, from the University of Notre Dame. As Director of Media (Advertising) Planning at Anheuser-Busch from 1996 – 2002, she led a department of 12 people and was responsible for an annual advertising budget of over $500 million.

Jane is a dedicated community volunteer with a focus on underserved youth and the arts. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Center of Creative Arts (COCA), volunteers at the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Mercy Hospital and has assisted at the St Louis Crisis Nursery. When not volunteering, Jane enjoys taking out of town guests to The City Museum. Her favorite book is The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach. Jane’s involvement with the Noble Neighbor stems from her belief that reading is essential to success in life. “Words on a page can inform, educate, transport, inspire, and communicate a whole world of possibilities. Reading a book AND meeting the author can affect students both academically and personally. I support The Noble Neighbor’s mission to bring these experiences to underserved schools because all students deserve a level playing field.”

Holland Saltsman is the owner of The Novel Neighbor in St. Louis. After 15 years in Higher Education Administration, Holland was looking to create a space for carefully curated books, a showcase for local, independent artists as well as a community gathering space and that vision for The Novel Neighbor opened in 2014. After seeing the need to connect authors and their books with underserved St. Louis school districts, she founded the Noble Neighbor in 2019. Holland has always loved reading and some of her favorite children’s books are The Secret Garden, When You Reach Me and Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero as well as her all-time favorite adult fiction, The Sparrow. Holland enjoys hearing live music at The Pageant, working her way through all the great restaurants in St. Louis  and spending time at the Missouri Botanical Gardens and Contemporary Art Museum. For more information, follow her @hollandsays.

Sharifah Sims-Williams is an experienced public relations practitioner and former journalist with more than 25 years experience to her current role of Director of Communications with the Normandy Schools Collaborative. Prior to joining Normandy, she worked as a Communications Specialist with the Hazelwood School District. She has also worked in the corporate sector, working in PR/Communications roles with Express Scripts and Charter (now Spectrum) Communications. She first worked in education as a Coordinator, Internal Communications with St. Louis Community College.

Sharifah earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and her master’s degree in Leadership & Management from Webster University. She is the 2021-2022 Eastern Region Director for the Missouri School Public Relations Association. In 2017, under her leadership, the Normandy Communications department earned several awards in the annual MOSPRA awards competition including the Award of Excellence for Writing and first place for the Normandy Connections print newsletter.

Sharifah is married to Cliff, a graphic design instructor, and together they have four daughters. They recently welcomed their first grandchild to the family. Sharifah’s favorite literary genres are African-American literature and non-fiction works. Her favorite authors are Terry McMillan, J. California Cooper, and Barack Obama.

With more than 20 years of service to Saint Louis small businesses, individuals, and nonprofit organizations, Lori is dedicated to assisting her clients with their accounting and tax needs. Lori earned Bachelors and Masters of Accounting degrees from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis, and has been a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor since 2007. In addition to her professional work, Lori values her dynamic leadership role in the non-profit community starting in 2003 when she joined the board of directors of Saint Louis Earth Day, an organization that transformed the City’s sustainability landscape. Previously, Lori was a long standing board member for the Judevine Center for Autism, where she chaired the Fundraising Committee for 5 years. When she isn’t working, Lori enjoys hiking, reading and traveling with her partner and offspring.

Kathy is an attorney for small-medium sized independent businesses and has been a fan of The Novel Neighbor bookstore since its inception. As a child, Kathy loved Madeline L’Engle’s, A Wrinkle In Time. When reading to her own child, Rebecca Stead’s,When You Reach Me became a favorite. Current favorites include; Replay, 11/22/63 and The Time Traveler’s Wife. Kathy’s favorite St. Louis experiences include enjoying a cocktail on the Moonrise Hotel roof, visiting the City Museum and watching watching the Forest Park Balloon Race sunsets at the Boathouse . When asked about her leadership role with The Noble Neighbor, Kathy shares, “as a kid reading was refuge for me and a way to imagine different realities and different futures for my myself. My love of reading grew into a curiosity about storytellers and a love of writing. Linking the stories to the storytellers allowed me to reshape and retell my own stories which I found empowering and healing. I now want to share these tools of healing and empowerment throughout our community and with students throughout our region.”

Julie Wood is an owner of Origin Agency, a boutique marketing and advertising agency serving clients nationwide. She has over 30 years experience in marketing and business strategy. She is also an avid and active volunteer, focusing particularly on helping to build more equity in education throughout the St. Louis region.

Julie lives in Webster Groves with her husband, Jim. They have 2 grown children and 2 children-in-law. Her passions include travel, golf, skiing, water sports and reading.Julie is excited to be part of the Noble Neighbor and appreciates that its work exists at the intersection of 3 of her loves: equity, reading, and St. Louis. Julie’s favorite authors include Barbara Kingsolver and Ann Patchett. She finds it impossible to do “all time favorite” lists, but her favorites among the books she’s read in 2021 include No One is Talking About This, The Four Winds, Malibu Rising, and The Vanishing Half.