Our Team

Regional Advisor- Julie Palomba

Julie is a middle-grade and YA writer living in the Williamsburg. Her work was featured in the YA Sci Fi anthology Brave New Girls, whose proceeds go to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund. Her current works-in-progress are a STEM-themed middle grade novel and a historical nonfiction picture book series about her beloved neighborhood. When she’s not writing, you can probably find her at the Tompkins Square dog park with her shorkie, Lucy. Otherwise, she’s out-of-office, racking up countries on her travel bucket list – 65 and counting!

Assistant Regional Advisor- Bridgitte Rodguez

Bridgitte has been a member of SCBWI since 2020. She writes across kidlit genres, mostly picture books, but her current work in progress, is a YA Novel in Verse. Her debut picture book, A Walk Through the Redwoods, illustrated by Natalia Bruno, was published by Reycraft Books. Bridgitte grew up in San Diego, CA, but has called NYC home for the last six years.

Illustration Coordinator- Mackenzie Reagan-Hadley

Mackenzie is a writer, illustrator, painter and cowgirl from the Bootheel of New Mexico who values all things wild, whimsical and mysterious. Now, based in Brooklyn, New York, she is in pursuit of an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School and learning to thrive in an urban setting. As a lover of the fantastical, she strives to bring magic to life through both her art and writing. She does so in her illustration work through dynamic compositions, vibrant color palettes and visual storytelling that captures. In her writing, she uses wit, humor and heart to explore the emotional complexities of youth through action-packed adventures and mind-bending mysteries for younger readers in settings inspired by Western Americana. When she’s not chipping away at her next project, she can be found venturing somewhere new alongside friends in search of delicious food and fun adventures.

Translator Coordinator: Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Lyn is a translator of picture books, middle grade fiction, and graphic novels from Portuguese to English and an author of middle grade and YA fiction and nonfiction. Her translation of the YA graphic novel Pardalita(Levine Querido, 2023) was a 2024 Batchelder Honor Book. She is the author of the YA historical novel Torch(Carolrhoda Lab, 2022), winner of the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and the YA verse novel Eyes Open (Carolrhoda Lab, 2024), chosen by Booklist as a Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth, 2024. Originally from Houston, Texas, she has lived in Madison, Wisconsin, Albany, New York, and Lisbon, Portugal, and now makes her home in the East Village. She has been a member of SCBWI for more than 20 years.