Meet Our Scholars

Elisha is a first-generation student, daughter of an immigrant, and a queer Hispanic woman. Elisha and her younger sister started their own business when they were 11 and 12, WhollyART, and they have taught kids and teens about self-esteem and positive values through their blog, published books, and public speaking. She decided to get a bachelor’s degree in editing and publishing, and minors in communications and linguistics at Brigham Young University. While in college, they have been involved with a variety of clubs and organizations, including Hispanos Unidos, USGA (and other LGBTQ+ organizations), the Honors Program, the Delta Alpha Pi society (for students with disabilities), among others. Elisha will graduate from BYU in April 2023. She is currently working on her BYU Honors thesis, which combines her love of literature, social justice, and her personal story with representation. They plan to survey young adults of color on their experience with representation in YA books. Elisha is applying to a Book Publishing grad school program with Portland State University, where she plans to continue her academic research on diversity in publishing. Eventually, Elisha would like to run her own publishing house to push for more representation of many different marginalized communities in literature.