Tonya Duncan Ellis

Author

TONYA DUNCAN ELLIS is author of THEY BUILT ME FOR FREEDOM: THE STORY OF JUNETEENTH AND HOUSTON’S EMANCIPATION PARK (HarperCollins, 2024). She successfully self-published the 13-book SOPHIE WASHINGTON chapter series, which has sold over 175,000 copies. A diversity advocate, Tonya is a member of the Brown Bookshelf’s Highlights Foundation-sponsored Amplify Black Stories cohort and serves on faculty at Highlights. She Is a 2024 PB Rising Stars Mentor and was a 2023 We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) Black Creatives Mentor. Tonya is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She presented on marketing for SCBWI’s 2023 Winter Conference in New York City and is a winner of SCBWI’s 2022 Independently Published Book Marketing Grant and SCBWI Austin’s 2021 Cynthia Leitich Smith Writing Mentor Award. Tonya founded the Write This! Instagram Live show, featuring bestselling and award-winning authors, illustrators and publishing professionals. She is married with three children and lives in Houston, Texas.