Our Team
Founders and Advisors at The Book Truck
Elizabeth Dragga
Founder/Executive Director
A former bookseller, librarian, and education advocate, Elizabeth founded The Book Truck in 2011 in response to a lack of literacy outreach programming for teenagers. She joined forces with renowned author Cornelia Funke in 2012. Since its inception, The Book Truck has given away thousands of books to youth and young adults.
“You have been an extra-ordinary addition to our program. Your thoughtfulness, preparedness, articulation, intelligence and passion for our students was such a game changer for this group of kids. Your curriculum and approach brought out much-untapped potential and personality in all of them.”
– Abby Adams, Executive Director, Determined to Succeed
The Book Truck advisors.
Cornelia Funke
Cornelia Funke has written bestsellers such as The Thief Lord and Inkheart Trilogy. She has also written beloved picture books such as The Princess Knight. Amongst the many awards and honors Ms. Funke has earned is being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2005.
Adam Frankel
Adam Frankel is the librarian at Palms Middle School and previously worked at LACES, ranked the #1 high school in LA. Also, he has been a teacher at other LAUSD schools including McAlister, a high school for pregnant and parenting teens. In addition to his MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science), he has an MA in Educational Administration and an MA in International Studies.
Caroline Kunitz
Dr. Jeffery Wilhelm
Dr. Betsy Abrams Rich
Dr. Betsy Abrams Rich has her PhD in Anthropology. She teaches anthropology at LA area colleges and previously taught at University of Illinois-Chicago. She brings her expertise in grant writing, teaching, and curriculum development to The Book Truck.
Eva Ramirez Fogg
Ami Fields-Meyer
Ami Fields-Meyer is an aide to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.* He was previously Communications Director for California Assembly member Jesse Gabriel and is an alumnus of the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs. Ami has written about issues of public policy and civil rights for The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, and The Forward. He has a BA in History and African American studies from Emory University. (*For identification purposes only)
Donnajean Ward
Donnajean Ward works in the office of the dean at the USC Price School of Public Policy Currently, she serves as a liaison to faculty and research centers within the Price School focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Ward also serves as the Price School’s liaison with USC’s Civic Engagement initiatives that support community engagement and outreach.
Dr. Julie Sandor
Sharon Hearn
Sharon Hearn is owner of the beloved children’s bookstore, Children’s Book World, a 27 year-old Los Angeles institution. With a selection of over 80,000 titles, and a staff that tries to read as many of those titles as possible, these booksellers are dedicated to getting the right books into the hands of the right kids.
Courtney Hazlett
Courtney Hazlett is SVP of Development at OutEast Entertainment, which produces scripted and non-scripted television as well as feature films. Prior to that, Courtney spent her career in journalism. After receiving a Masters from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she was an editor at several major magazines and then worked at NBC News for nearly a decade.
Sean Griffin
Sean Griffin is a media and entertainment executive whose experience spans books, newspapers, themed entertainment, and virtual reality. He is currently President of Nomadic, an immersive entertainment company focused on leveraging technology innovations to bring the world’s most beloved stories to life. He received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and completed his undergraduate degree at Boston College.