Meet the Geek Club Books Team:
Jodi Murphy founded Geek Club Books a charity with an autism education and empowerment mission. She is also a regular contributor to The Mighty news media, Dandelion Moms and Teachers with Apps. She was a freelance marketing specialist for over 30 years working for clients in a variety of industries, a journalist in the design/luxury lifestyle industry, and co-founder of Nesting Newbies, one of the first independent lifestyle digital magazines. Her most important role and her life’s passion is being the mother of two adult children—one who is on the autism spectrum. Her focus is on affecting change through storytelling and technology. Her dream is a world where those on the autism spectrum are valued and given every opportunity to shine using their talents and abilities.
Jonathan Murphy is a SAG-AFTRA voiceover actor appears in videogames, apps, audiobooks, and throughout a major theme park. Jonathan shares his autistic life experiences through public speaking and Mighty League children’s book app series. He’s received a Temple Grandin Award and People’s Choice Award for his storytelling.
FIND MORE JONATHAN at jonincharacter.com
James Sullivan is a filmmaker who is on the autism spectrum. He has his own YouTube channel entitled Jaimetud where he reviews all forms of popular pop culture including books, movies, comics and video games. James works on Geek Club Books Bluebee TeeVee Autism Information Station where he writes the scripts, performs as on-camera host, and films and edits our popular autism education webisodes.
FIND MORE JAMES at Jaimetud
Many amazing autistic writers are a part of our team. They share their own personal narratives about being autistic, give readers self-care advice and write social commentary about autistic representation in the media. You’ll find links to their bios as a part of The Penfriend Project.
FIND OUR WRITERS at The Penfriend Project
We are also proud and honored to have so many amazing autistic writers, guest editors and columnists who contribute to our Zoom Autism Magazine, giving readers a chance to see autism through many lenses. You’ll find their bios on our Zoom Home Page and at the end of their articles.
FIND OUR ZOOM TEAM at Zoom Autism Magazine
Molly Murphy is the author of the Mighty League series. She is a singer and songwriter interested in the intimacies and connectivity of music, storytelling, and collaborative art making. She has released albums as a million creatures, and Maude Gun and writes, composes, and creates under both names. She performs music on the east coast, develops multidisciplinary projects, and works for Advance NYC, a company that consults with cultural non-profits in New York.
FIND MORE MOLLY at amillioncreatures.com and Maude Gun
P-Scott is our book app illustrator extraordinaire. We’re giving his Disney credits a shout out…The Lion King, Hercules, Tarzan, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast…yeah, he worked on all of them and more. We’re happy that The Mighty League stories are in his hands.
FIND MORE PHILIP on IMDB
Kim Johnson is all kinds of creative, too! She draws, illustrates, writes, sews, photographs, and designs cool fabrics and pillows. Her illustrations spark our imaginations and make us smile wide. Kim created our “Grady the Geekosaur” Geek Club Books and Mighty League logos, and the JMan and Mr. Redge characters.
FIND MORE KIM at kimjohnsonstudios.com
Karen Simpson Gardiner is a playwright, arts administrator, and mom who wants to make sure every kid can find the thing that makes them shine! Karen writes our original Dorktales scripts. When not geeking with us, she works at Peninsula Youth Theatre in Mountain View, California.
FIND MORE KAREN on our Dorktales page
Meet the Geek Club Books Educational Specialists:
Jenny Debevec is collaborating with Geek Club Books on our school outreach education program. Jenny has been developing a comprehensive improv therapy program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto with a grant through TheatreWorks. She served as a panelist at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre conference webinar “Healing through Practical Play” and uses improv to teach on-camera and voiceover techniques at Voice One in San Francisco. She has performed at the San Francisco Improv Festival and at various locations in San Francisco and Marin with the group. Since 2006, she has run her own academic consulting and college counseling company, helping families in the Bay Area negotiate their college admissions process. Ms. Debevec earned a B.A. in music and philosophy from University of Portland, a certificate in acting from American Conservatory Theatre’s Summer Training Congress and is currently pursuing an M.S. in Counseling from San Francisco State University. She presented at the American Counseling Association National Conference in 2017, SFSU graduate showcases and CSA Seminars.
FIND MORE JENNY on LinkedIn
Jayne Clare developed the curriculum guide for Mighty League, Vol. 2: The Horrible Hug. Co-founder of Teachers with Apps and a leader in introducing educational technology into classrooms, Jayne has 30 years of hands-on classroom experience predominately working with special needs children. Jayne has been a leader in educational technology throughout her entire teaching career. She is the creator of one of the first genuine educational app review sites that analyzes the educational value of apps. Jayne’s expertise in this growing field of digital education has allowed her to implement essential strategies in order to ensure the academic value in every product.
FIND MORE JAYNE on Teachers with Apps
Shelah Moss and her partner Sarah developed an activity guide for the Mighty League, Vol. 1: The Terrible Taunting. Shelah has extensive knowledge in teaching and integrating social skills for children of all ages and functioning levels. She has developed and run comprehensive programs for her clients and worked with other therapists and para-professionals as part of a team with the parents and families of the children. Shelah believes that every child can improve their quality of life by scaffolding skills with the proper support. Many of the children that she has worked with have benefited by targeting and tailoring their program to best fit their particular needs and strengths.
FIND MORE SHELAH on Mosswood Connections
Cyndie Sebourn is an author, owner of Sascyn Publishing,Inc. and a National Board Certified Teacher. Cyndie developed the Project Based Learning Unit for Mighty League Vol. 1: The Terrible Taunting. The PBL is in alignment with Common Core State Standards, incorporates 21st Century Learning Skills, meets multiple levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and includes Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy.
FIND MORE CYNDIE on Apps with Curriculum
