In Context: Women on the Rise Honorees
Meet our Women on the Rise Honorees. Each of these women has contributed to helping realize America’s enduring promises of freedom, independence, and opportunity. We are shining a light on their impact and celebrating their efforts.
Meet Shawn Reilly Simmons, Purpose-Driven Leader honoree!
Shawn is the owner, publisher, and managing editor of Level Best Books, an independent crime fiction press based in Maryland with a roster of over 230 authors. Level Best Books publishes quality crime fiction, true crime, select nonfiction, fantasy & speculative fiction, YA, middle-grade, and short story anthologies and collections.
As a purpose-driven leader, Shawn is dedicated to advancing freedom and independence for marginalized voices in the publishing world. Through Level Best Books, she creates opportunities for women and underrepresented writers—including older women who are often overlooked by larger publishers—to share their stories, build their platforms, and find community in the crime fiction and broader literary world.
Shawn is helping to reshape the publishing landscape so that diverse stories are told, valued, and celebrated.
Join us in celebrating Shawn’s commitment to purpose-driven leadership in publishing.
Learn More and Support:
Website: Level Best Books
LinkedIn: ShawnReillySimmons
Instagram: @levelbestbooks
Know a woman making an impact? Nominate someone for our Women on the Rise campaign.
Meet Nesrine Mbarek, our Women on the Rise honoree in the Rising Voice category!
Originally from Gafsa, Tunisia, Nesrine is emerging as a Rising Voice in education, gender equality, and activism. In her work with IIEP-UNESCO, she supports Ministries of Education in countries including South Africa, Colombia, Jordan, Chad, Mauritania, Ghana, and Madagascar to advance financial reforms that create more equitable, gender-responsive education systems.
In her work, Nesrine develops and implements financial reforms that help education systems become more equitable, with a focus on gender. For example, she developed a procedural manual to mainstream gender equality within Chad’s education system—demonstrating her commitment to shaping a more just and inclusive future.
A Stanford and Harvard graduate, Nesrine applies her expertise to expanding education and equity across the globe.
Join us in celebrating Nesrine as a rising voice for advancing educational equity across the globe.
Learn More and Support
UNESCO IIEP: iiep.unesco.org
LinkedIn: Nesrine Mberek
Meet Shawn Reilly Simmons, Purpose-Driven Leader honoree!
Shawn is the owner, publisher, and managing editor of Level Best Books, an independent crime fiction press based in Maryland with a roster of over 230 authors. Level Best Books publishes quality crime fiction, true crime, select nonfiction, fantasy & speculative fiction, YA, middle-grade, and short story anthologies and collections.
As a purpose-driven leader, Shawn is dedicated to advancing freedom and independence for marginalized voices in the publishing world. Through Level Best Books, she creates opportunities for women and underrepresented writers—including older women who are often overlooked by larger publishers—to share their stories, build their platforms, and find community in the crime fiction and broader literary world.
Shawn is helping to reshape the publishing landscape so that diverse stories are told, valued, and celebrated.
Join us in celebrating Shawn’s commitment to purpose-driven leadership in publishing.
Learn More and Support:
Website: Level Best Books
LinkedIn: ShawnReillySimmons
Instagram: @levelbestbooks
Meet Trisha (T.M.) Blanchet, our Women on the Rise honoree in the Community Uplifter category!
Trisha is the founder of Operation Delta Dog, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on a mission to rescue shelter dogs and train them as service dogs for veterans with PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and related conditions. Since 2013, Operation Delta Dog has placed more than 100 rescued dogs with veterans in New England—giving dogs the loving homes they need, and veterans the help they deserve.
But that’s not all Trisha does to uplift her community. She is also the author of The Neath Trilogy: Herrick's End, Herrick's Lie, and Herrick's Key. She produces and hosts A Mighty Blaze Podcast, bringing weekly interviews with authors to listeners everywhere. Before all this, Trisha was a reporter, editor, and award-winning humor columnist, and she’s a proud graduate of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Learn More and Support:
Operation Delta Dog: operationdeltadog.org
Website: TMBlanchet.com
Instagram: @t.m.blanchet
Threads: @t.m.blanchet
TikTok: @tmblanchet
Facebook: facebook.com/tmblanchet