Kia Harris
Editorial Director, Frederick Douglass Books
Kia’s high-energy, patient, inclusive, and authentic approach allows her to educate novice authors on bringing their best books to the market. Her perseverance drives her commitment to creativity and authenticity in amplifying the stories of brown and black authors.
She focuses on working with authors who are breaking into the book world and desire a publisher with a hands-on team in developing their authentic author brand. Kia has helped authors with stories and platforms that promote, advocate, and innovate social and economic bridges to foster positive, impactful, transformative, and influential messages across a diverse audience of readers. At the core of what sets Kia apart is her unwavering commitment to supporting, educating, elevating, and advocating for brown and black authors. She strives to use her position to promote diverse voices and break the status quo of the publishing world.
Kia has served in progressive leadership roles across notable companies, including, The Bank of New York, Save the Children Federation, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. During her tenure, she led teams to develop and edit Standard Operating Procedures and Workflow guidelines used to enhance processes and create standardization in reporting to be leveraged by her department and senior leadership for decision making, identifying tax advantages and opportunities for tax savings through mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. She holds a B.S. in Accounting with a Specialization in Taxation.
Kia has effectively built high-performing teams and led organizational changes that influenced increased diversity and inclusion initiatives. Her leadership passion was centered around identifying and acquiring diverse talent and building a pipeline of subject matter experts growing through the ranks.
Kia enjoys learning gardening and landscaping with her husband and daughter in her spare time. She enjoys long walks on trails in New York’s Hudson Valley with her family and their Weimaraner. Kia also volunteers with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and serves as a Deacon in her church.