The Sistah Scifi Advisory Council brings together readers, writers, creatives, organizers, educators, and community builders who help guide Sistah Scifi’s long-term impact.

Council members support Sistah Scifi through strategic planning, programming, book reviews, children’s book curation, teaching materials, pop-up vending, Sistah Scifi Wine Down Wednesday, fulfillment support, and community-centered events.

The Advisory Council meets as a full group annually in person, with members also contributing throughout the year to aligned projects and initiatives.

Advisory Council Members

Angela Dalton

Focus Areas: Children’s book curation, educational materials, study guides, Sistah Scifi 2030 Strategic Plan



Angela Dalton is a children’s book author based in Oakland, California, and has a background in producing online kids’ games. She began writing at a young age and saw it as a way to create her own world. Her self-published picture book, If You Look Up to the Sky, was inspired by her grandmother and an early fascination with outer space and astronomy. Both traditionally and independently published, her work centers black children as main characters in spaces and represented them in ways she wishes she had seen growing up.

Jen-Mei Wu

Focus Areas: Online presence, website updates, Bookshop.org and Libro.fm product page links, strategic planning, sustainability


Jen-Mei Wu works at the intersection of art and technology. She’s been a founder of several maker, education, and artistic organizations, including Power & Resilience Through Experiential Education, Comrade Lover (anti-imperialist lion dance troupe), and Liberating Ourselves Locally (people of color centered, gender diverse maker/hacker space formerly in East Oakland)

Opal Franklin

Focus Areas: Fulfillment parties, pop-up vending support, operations, community-powered backend support



Opal Franklin (she/her) is a writer and scholar from the Bay Area. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing, focusing on poetry and nonfiction. As a lover of speculative fiction, she loves going to book-ish events around Oakland and San Francisco. When not reading and writing, she enjoys spending time by the water.

Stephen Evans

Focus Areas: Pop-up vending, book reviews, book club questions, volunteer support, accounting



Stephen Evans is a Bay Area cellist, performing and teaching mostly in the East Bay.  He is a lifelong avid reader, and reads across all genres, from sci-fi and horror to hard science and classic literature.  A committed armchair traveler, Stephen believes that books are a key to friendship and understanding across the world, and he delights in new discoveries and loves to read new writers finding their voice.  You can usually find him reading in a comfy chair or talking enthusiastically about books at Sistah Scifi events.

Vanessa Smith

Focus Areas: Sistah Scifi Wine Down Wednesday, book reviews, book club questions, Bay Area events, children’s book teaching materials


Vanessa Smith is an Oakland-based reader and writer who loves a good story. She brings to the Sistah Scifi Advisory Council a love of bold ideas, community-centered narratives and futures in which Black and Indigenous people don’t merely survive—we dream, build, lead, and thrive. Vanessa is excited to help Sistah Scifi place more transformative stories into the hands of readers everywhere.

Advisory Council Focus Areas

The Advisory Council supports Sistah Scifi in areas including:

Strategic planning
Programming and events
Sistah Scifi Wine Down Wednesday
Book reviews and book club questions
Children’s book curation
Teaching materials and study guides
Pop-up vending
Fulfillment support
Volunteer coordination
Online presence and website improvements
Community partnerships

Interested in Supporting Sistah Scifi?

We are always looking for aligned volunteers, partners, and community members who want to help expand the reach of Black and Indigenous speculative fiction.

To connect with Sistah Scifi, visit our events page, attend a book club, join a Sistah Scifi Wine Down Wednesday conversation, or reach out to info@sistahscifi.com about volunteer and partnership opportunities.