BLISSFUL US
MENTORS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MAISY CARD

Maisy Card is a librarian and an author. Her debut novel These Ghosts are Family, won an American Book Award, the  2021 OCM Bocas Prize in fiction, and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review’s “The Daily,” AGNI, The New York Times, Guernica, and other publications. Maisy was born in Portmore, Jamaica but was raised in Queens, NY. She is a graduate of the Brooklyn College MFA in Fiction program.  She lives in Newark, NJ.

DAVID KOSBIE

David Kosbie is an Associate Teaching Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.  He earned a BA in Applied Math from Harvard in 1987 and an MS in Computer Science from CMU in 1991, worked at Apple and Microsoft, is a certified high school math teacher with 5+ years of classroom experience, and has taught Computer Science at CMU for 15 years.  David is co-founder and director of CMU CS Academy, a project which bridges equity divides in high school computer science education, providing free curriculum along with free teacher training and support.  To date, CMU CS Academy has reached over 120,000 students.

RONALEE CHATMAN

Ronalee Chatman is currently Youth Services Division, Lead at the Jersey City Free Public Library, where she supervises team members on providing Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematic (STEAM) programs for children in the community.
She started her career at Jersey City Free Public Library as a part-time Library Technician; after four years, she accepted a full-time position and shortly after, she obtained her certification as a Librarian. Ronalee has an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education / Spec. Ed.from Hudson County Community College, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education / Spec. Ed. and Sociology from New Jersey City University, and a Master of Science Degree in Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute. She is an active member of American Library Association and Urban Library Council

KAPIL BANSAL

Kapil Bansal is Managing Director at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) where he has responsibility for setting the cross-product strategy and transformation for the firm, delivering industry solutions institutional clients and achieving DTCC’s resiliency and risk management objectives.

Kapil has over 20 years of experience in the capital markets and financial services industry with a proven track record as a business executive. Kapil has held senior business roles at Barclays in its investment banking division. Prior to that, Kapil held senior advisory roles at management consulting firms of Booz & Co., McKinsey, and Sapient where he assisted Fortune 100 clients on variety of business issues.

Kapil holds an MBA in Finance with Distinction from University of Michigan, MS in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Rutgers University and BS in Industrial Engineering.

JIMMEKA ANDERSON

Jimmeka Anderson is a Ph.D. candidate in the Curriculum and Instruction Urban Education program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research interests include critical digital media literacy education and technology inequity among historically marginalized students. She received her master's degree in Educational Media with a focus on New Media Literacies at Appalachian State University. While serving as the Founder and Executive Director of I AM not the MEdia, Inc. for ten years, she has developed curriculum and award-winning community programs that empower youth through media literacy and media creation. Additionally, Jimmeka has served as the Chapter Lead for NC for Media Literacy Now, the creator of the Teen Media Literacy Conference in Charlotte, NC, and in leadership advisory roles with the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), American Education Research Association (AERA), and American Library Association (ALA). Jimmeka has also served as a media literacy consultant for several national organizations such as the Women’s Sports Foundation, NAMLE, and 9 Story Media Group.

 
Prior to pursuing her Ph.D. degree, Jimmeka worked as a Library Outreach Coordinator for over ten years at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and as a Course Instructor for five years with the Carolina School of Broadcasting where she taught adult students courses in Media Literacy, Media Ethics, and New Media. Jimmeka has been featured in WIRED Magazine and in the recently released Trust Me Documentary in Fall 2020. Her recent honors include the 2018 Crowning Achiever Award from The Crown Jewels (NC) Links, Inc. and the 2019 Excellence in Public Humanities Award from the NC Humanities Council. Jimmeka has contributed to academic publications in the Middle Grades Review and Educational Media International journals. She has written articles for the Voices of Youth Advocates Magazine and Family Online Safety Institute and has contributed several book chapters. Jimmeka's forthcoming book Power Lines: Connecting with teens in urban communities through media literacy, along with co-author Kelly Czarnecki, is set to be published by ALA Neal-Schuman in Spring 2022.

CHARU BANSAL

Charu is an experienced professional with 10+ years of product management, business analysis and teaching experience from a successful career in finance, media, and education. Holds a strong track record of delivering complex custom software development and business transformation projects in large organizations in a fast paced agile environment. 

A passionate community leader with 10+ years of track record. Charu holds a Certificate of Eligibility as a Highly Certified K-12 Teacher of Mathematics in New Jersey.