1st Birthday Summit, London

Ana Maria Cabanellas, President, Grupo Claridad

Cabanellas is the president of Grupo Editorial Claridad since 1979, one of Argentina’s oldest publishing houses that carries several imprints specializing in children’s development. She was named the Vice President of the Reprographic Rights Administration Center of Argentina and is a member of the board of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations and the Chair of its Latin American and Caribbean Committee. She was the first woman to serve as Vice President (2000-2004) and President of the International Publishers Association serving from 2004-2008, where she is still an active member through its Freedom to Publish Committee. She was also the first woman to serve as President of the Ibero-American Group of Publishers (2000-2004) and is now its Vice President.  In 2012, Buenos Aires Book Fair recognized her as one of the 50 most influential people in Spanish-language publishing.

Owner and Senior Publisher, Albert Bonniers Förlag

Bonnier is the owner and senior publisher at Albert Bonniers Förlag, Sweden’s largest fiction publisher. Becoming the company’s first female leader 25 years ago, she has since helped Albert Bonniers Förlag succeed amid a changing industry landscape. Bonnier is a member of the board of the Bonnier Group, a media group of 175 companies across 15 countries. She served as the chairman of the Swedish Publishers Association from 2010 to 2016.

Vice-President, International Publishers Association (IPA); CEO-Founder, Kalimat Group; Founder, PublisHer

Bodour Al Qasimi is the CEO and Founder of Kalimat Group, a leading children’s publisher in the United Arab Emirates. For more than a decade she has been a driving force behind efforts to grow the Arab world’s publishing industry, including Sharjah Publishing City, the world’s first publishing industry free zone. She chairs the Sharjah World Book Capital 2019 Committee and leads a number of global initiatives to promote freedom to publish, youth and gender empowerment and cross cultural exchange. Since January 2019 Bodour has served as Vice-President of the International Publishers Association, and in 2021 will become only the second female IPA President in the organization’s 125-year history.

President, Grupo Claridad

Ana Maria Cabanellas is the President of Grupo Editorial Claridad, one of Argentina’s leading publishing houses. Since she became the group’s president in 1979, she oversaw the launch of several new labels specializing in children’s development. She has served in several leadership positions in national publishing associations. Cabanellas was named Vice-President of the Reprographic Rights Administration Center of Argentina and Chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Committee of International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations. In 2012, Buenos Aires Book Fair recognized her as one of the 50 most influential people in Spanish-language publishing. She was the first woman to serve as President of the International Publishers Association, serving from 2004-2008. She remains an active member of the International Publishers Association and serves on its Freedom to Publish Committee.

President and CEO, Copyright Clearance Center

Tracey Armstrong became President and Chief Executive Officer of Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) in July 2007. She has almost 30 years of experience in rights management, helping transform CCC’s solutions to meet the needs of today’s digital world. Armstrong works with publishers, authors, universities, businesses and industry associations around the world, addressing global copyright issues and establishing new alliances. She serves on the Board of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) and holds an MBA from Northeastern University, where she mentors young women in its MBA program. Armstrong also works closely with Harborlight Community Partners, a non-profit, Massachusetts-certified Community Development Corporation that provides affordable housing.

Vice-President and Publisher, QA International / Éditions Québec Amérique

Caroline Fortin is Vice-President and Publisher at the Quebec Amerique Group. Since she joined in 1991, Caroline has overseen the group’s expansion to new frontiers, including the opening of Chez L’éditeur, a literary café and community space. Caroline also serves as the President of Canada FBM2020, a body set up by the Canadian government to coordinate the country’s guest of honour designation at Frankfurt Book Fair 2020.

Co-founder and Publishing Director, Cassava Republic Press

Bibi Bakare-Yusuf is the co-founder and publishing director of Cassava Republic Press, one of Africa’s leading publishing houses. An accomplished academic, she has received the Yale World, Desmond Tutu, and Frankfurt Book Fair Fellowships. She has consulted on gender issues for the BBC, UniFem, ActionAid, eShekels, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the European Union. Bibi also chairs the Board of the Initiative for Equal Rights, the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in West Africa.

Founder, Silkworm Books
Trasvin Jittidecharak is an illustrator, publisher and founder of Silkworm Books, a leading publisher of English-language books in Thailand. Trasvin has spearheaded many initiatives to support Thai publishers and supported Bangkok’s designation as the World’s Book Capital in 2013. In 2006, she founded the Mekong Press Foundation to nurture local publishers and writers in the Greater Mekong region. She is an active member of the International Publishers Association and serves on its Freedom to Publish Committee.