Andrea Reid, Co-chair

Andrea Reid is a published author and editor, and a proud graduate of Howard University, where she received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing. She is the founder of Proofreiding, Inc., a proofreading and editing boutique that offers editing services for nonfiction books, blogs, biographies, newsletters, marketing materials, proposals, website content, and more.

As an active member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, she is chairperson of the Ruth Mullen Memorial Scholarship program, which offers scholarships to HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She also chairs the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Transformation committee to center diversity, equity and belonging within the EFA. She’s a member of the Board of Directors, the Governance task force, and the Executive committees for the organization.

Andrea has edited several published books and is currently working on her second book, a sequel to her memoir, Treasured by God.

Sheryl Holmberg, Co-chair

Sheryl is a published poet and author with a background in journalism, media, and literature. She has worked as a freelance journalist (a stringer) and as editor-in-chief of a suburban newspaper group, producing weekly, biweekly, and monthly publications in cities across Oakland and Macomb counties in Michigan. She served two school terms as poet-in-residence at Bagley Elementary in Detroit with the InsideOut Literary Arts Detroit program, where she also edited and helped produce two student anthologies. As a freelancer, Sheryl has edited more than twenty published books, fiction and nonfiction, working as book designer for many of these. She serves clients across genres and fields, including academic and professional scholarly work, and creates marketing materials for authors and businesses—website copy, print and digital collateral, book cover copy, book blurbs, datasheets, and FAQs. Sheryl currently serves as PR chairperson, editor of the Freelancer, and is also a committee member for the Ruth Mullen Memorial Scholarship program. She loves reading, especially mystery novels, researching genealogy, hanging out, and yelling things at the TV.

Olivia Bedford

Olivia Bedford is a developmental editor, writer, and educator. After several years as a high school English teacher, Olivia founded her business, Olivia Helps Writers, to empower fiction writers with actionable feedback and revision guidance. She loves all things fantastical—whether that’s world-shaking epic fantasy, sweeping historical fiction, or heart-melting romance. Whether working with reluctant students, beginning novelists, or experienced writers, her greatest love is helping writers discover the magic in their messy manuscripts. She looks forward to working with the EDIT committee and finding new ways to bring EFA members together!

Marie Burke

Marie Burke has been an assistant general counsel with the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs for the past twenty-four years. Previously she served as a legislative fellow in the Office of Senator Tom Daschle and was deputy director for the White House Council on Youth Violence in 2000.

With a background in policy work, she has offered legal advice and is often called upon to edit policy documents. By doing so, she discovered this to be one of the favorite parts of her job. In the past year, she has taken on outside nonfiction, editing work and when she retires from the federal government (in the next few years), she hopes to seamlessly transition to working at least part-time as a freelance editor.

Shifra Diamond

Shifra Diamond is a nonfiction editor in New York City, specializing in the humanities and cultural studies. She especially enjoys working with authors of interdisciplinary projects, critical theory, and LGBTQ+ studies. Her education includes an editing certificate from the University of Chicago, an MA in English from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MPhil in interdisciplinary humanities from George Washington University. She also has more than ten years of experience developing programs for small nonprofits and research organizations. She views editing as an extension of this work—a way to shape spaces for dialogue, the development of ideas, and social justice. At the EFA, she is a member of the Academic Editing chapter’s leadership team and chair of the chapter’s education committee.

Miesha Hegwood

As the current member administrator for the Editorial Freelancers Association’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Transformation committee, Miesha strives to support and bring together underrepresented writers and editors by connecting them with like minds. With a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and a minor in Biology from Howard University in Washington, DC, Miesha bridged her interests in health disparities and cultural practices to work in the management of various health organizations. She has successfully implemented more efficient methods in organizational learning and developmental programming and has written and edited several protocols.

She acquired her Master of Public Health degree from George Washington University and obtained a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES®) certification to further advancement in the public health space. Since then, she used her knowledge in academia to provide editing services to graduate and medical students, an interest that started over the pandemic. This led to her establishing ThirdEye Editing, LLC, where she uses her gift to help others outside of the health space.

Britta Jensen

Britta Jensen is an award-winning novelist. Her debut YA novel Eloia Born won the 2019 Writer’s League of Texas YA Discovery Prize and was long-listed for the 2016 Exeter Novel Prize. She earned a B.A. in Acting Performance from Fordham University and an M.A. in Teaching of English Literature from Columbia University. For the past seventeen years, she has taught creative writing and edited books for both traditional and indie authors. She has received numerous awards, including the General Sharp Award from the US Army, for her innovative teaching of creative writing in New York City, South Korea and Germany. Friends often refer to her as a polyglot—which is a product of living twenty-two years overseas in Japan, South Korea, and Germany before settling in Austin, Texas. Britta enjoys mentoring writers and editing books with The Writing Consultancy and Yellowbird Editors. In her spare time, she dances almost every Latin partner dance you can think of, volunteers with the Relief Society, SCBWI and the Writer’s League of Texas. Britta is also a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, Reedsy, and the Alliance for Independent Authors.

Gabriel Rodriguez

Gabriel Rodriguez is an editor and author with a background in linguistics and social science. He has published several articles on foreign policy in Jacobin and written two novel manuscripts since graduating from Georgetown University with a Master of Arts in linguistics. While there, he worked at the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, where he developed a prototype database for a project on sustaining endangered languages. He also has a Bachelor of Arts in linguistics from the University of Michigan and has taken several classes on copyediting through the EFA. He is early in his career as a freelance editor, having begun working as a fact checker in early 2023 and taking on his first editing assignments this year. His focus is academic editing, and he will copyedit an academic journal for the University of Chicago Press starting in June.

As a new member of the EDIT committee, Gabriel hopes to be able to contribute with his background in language discrimination and endangerment, as well as international issues. He loves working with language, as both an editor and a writer, and is excited to continue doing both.

Marcina Zaccaria

Marcina Zaccaria has worked at EdLab at Columbia University, editing articles for Teachers College Record and the New Learning Times. She has written and edited profiles for Howl Round, based at Emerson College, and has held temporary positions at Conde Nast and Rodale Publishing.  She currently enjoys handling editing and layout for bio books for diversity professionals at a NY based non-profit organization.

She is the Theatre and Opera Editor at The Theatre Times, and her clips can be found online.  She has covered theatrical productions for The Brooklyn Rail.  As a Dramatist, Marcina Zaccaria has written monologues, Village, My Home, and All About Image/ We Are The Elite. She received her undergraduate degree from Tisch School of the Arts and holds an MFA from Columbia University.