Our Team
Anne Accardi- Editor
Anne graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with degrees in English Literature, Marketing, and German. She has years of experience with copywriting and editing for both creative and business writing and currently works as a writer at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. She feels that there are so many ways to be a good writer and loves helping people find their writing style and make it their best.
Renee Childs, LMSW- Founder, Executive Director
Renee Childs is the Executive Director and Editor of Youth Be Heard. After a career in business, Renee returned to school for her Master’s of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. Working with East St. Louis high school students inspired her to start YBH. Renee has written for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the HuffPost, and Business Insider. She is a mother of two who loves to adventure and eat too many desserts. Her favorite summer job in college was leading week-long backpacking trips for high schoolers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains… which she would still be doing if she didn’t have to carry all her dessert. IG: @raisingthehumans
Natasha Casey, Ph.D.- Board Member
Natasha Casey is a professor of communications at Lincoln Land Community College (Springfield, Illinois) who has loved Tottenham Hotspurs (London ‘soccer’ club) since she was 4 years old and lives for the day when they might win something again, although expects to be very old when (if?) this happens. Her favorite summer jobs back in the day were making Glade plug-ins (that smell is hard to get out of your hair) and working the boardwalk ice cream machine on the Irish coast (where she is originally from).
Sydney Stigge-Kaufman, MSW- Board Member
Sydney Stigge-Kaufman is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for East St. Louis School District 189. She has a Masters in Social Work and over 20 years of experience in the non-profit and education sectors. Sydney is passionate about educational equity. Her favorite summer job growing up was with community theatre!
Jonathan Sato, MDIV- Board Member
Jonathan Sato is the Superintendent for The Free Methodist Church in Southern California. He and his wife (Jenn) have adopted two amazing girls and a 6-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He dreams of playing on the PGA Tour and hopes one day to create a world where adoption and fostering are the norm. His favorite high school job was working at a Christmas Tree farm… because of the tips.
Britt Lueken, LMSW- Board Member
Britt Lueken has a bachelor’s in fine arts and received her MSW from the Brown School at Washington University in 2018. Since then, she has worked as the creative director at Educational Multimedia Inc. (EMI), combining her background in art and Montessori education with social work and public health. As a creative person, she understands how important and meaningful artistic expression can be for self-discovery, building confidence, and processing emotions and experiences. She is passionate about ensuring that young people have opportunities and the means to reach their potential and their goals.
Youth Advisory Board
Bridgitte Thao, 19, Minnesota
Bridgitte Thao (she/her) is a Hmong-American poet with a passion for cultivating creative spaces, especially for young artists. She is from St. Paul, Minnesota and is currently studying at Yale College. Her works draw from her vibrant childhood in Saint Paul, her love for fantastical worlds, and her desire to create a space for healing. Bridgitte’s involvement with Youth Be Heard began in 2021 when she first attended a Poets Be Heard event. Since then, she has officially joined the youth advisory board and piloted a peer mentorship program for young, disadvantaged creators. Additionally, she contributes monthly pieces exploring self-identity and relationships at the intersection of unique 21st century forces. In 2022, she won a Gold Medal from the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards for her poetry collection, “The Unveiling.” Besides writing, Bridgitte enjoys reading fantasy novels, walking around her neighborhood, and listening to Beyoncé.
Naya Dukkipati, 20, Texas
Naya Dukkipati is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Southern California, pursuing a dual degree in Cybersecurity and Public Policy with the goal of practicing digital law after working in digital forensics or security engineering. She loves writing and reading in her free time and you can find her self-published poetry book, Enough, on Amazon.
Abi Zajac, 21, Missouri
Abi Zajac is a graduate student at Missouri State University pursuing a master’s in writing. Zajac’s love for writing began with journalism and grew to include poetry, fiction, and any other form she can get her hands on. In spring of 2021 Zajac self-published a children’s book titled “Bobby Conquers Anxiety”. When she is not writing, Abi enjoys baking and doing yoga.
Will Lieber, 18, Illinois
My name is Will Lieber, and I am a college freshman majoring in neuroscience and I love to play the tuba. I enjoy writing for Youth Be Heard because it is a place to make my voice heard among others in the same season of life. In many ways, we are more alike than we realize. As a high school senior in 2020 who lost a lot of experiences to covid, I empathize with many like me who are struggling to find their identity, purpose, and meaning. I want to encourage people our age to articulate these struggles through writing in order to show others that they are not alone. I think knowing how to write well is one of the most valuable skills you can have, whether it is for a college application, a job, or just a general communication of ideas.
Alexis Casner, 17, Minnesota
Alexis is a senior in high school and is serving her first year on the Youth Be Heard board. Through monthly editions of the school newspaper, online poetry contests, and now submissions to YBH, she has grown a passion for all things writing. Alexis is civically involved in her community and finds joy in being a member of the League of Women Voters as well as a local Election Judge. She leads her school’s Mock Trial and Creative Writing Club, and her community’s 4-H Club—though some of her success should be attributed to her wonderful co-captains. In her spare time, she works as a balloon artist at birthday parties and fairs!
Mohamed El Madnaoui, 17, Morocco
My name is Mohamed El Madnaoui and I am a high school student in Casablanca, Morocco. I use writing as a means to document anything I find interesting. I play soccer almost every day and write about it in my journal. Youth Be Heard was a platform of expression and piqued my interest as soon as I found out about it. It allows me to write about anything I want and also helps me improve my work. I always find joy in writing in a creative fashion that I don’t find anywhere else. I hope through my participation in this organization, I can take my writing to the next level.