Organization
IBBY's policies, programmes and projects are determined by its Executive Committee: ten people from different countries and a President, working on a voluntary basis and selected biennially by the IBBY Sections at a General Assembly during the IBBY Congresses. The IBBY Treasurer, the President of the Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury, the Chair of the IBBY Trust, the Bookbidr Editor and IBBY Executive Director are ex-officio members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee works within the framework of the IBBY Statutes. The daily management of IBBY's affairs is conducted from its Secretariat in Basel, Switzerland.
The IBBY Sections are organized in many different ways and operate on national, regional and international levels. In countries that do not have a Section, individual Membership in IBBY is possible.
At its General Assembly held on 31 August 2024, the IBBY Sections elected a new Executive Committee for the term 2024–2026.
President
Basarat Kazim is responsible for the growth of the Alif Laila Book Bus Society from a children’s library to an entire educational ethos that has benefitted over one million children in Pakistan. Since 1978 she has been advocating for the importance of books and reading for children and has worked on setting up children’s libraries, mobile libraries, reading corners and early childhood centres in public and private schools. Her overall reading and library programme is a highly cost-effective model that has been successfully replicated across the country. he has used camels, yaks, rickshaws, boxes, bicycles and motorbikes as libraries, all under the motto: the sky is the limit. Because of her enthusiasm and success, she gained the nickname ‘the woman who turns everything into children’s libraries’.
She is the recipient of the 2023 Inspiring Woman Awards. In 2024 she received the IBBY-iRead Outstanding Reading Promoter Award.
Basarat previously served in the IBBY Executive Committee from 2018 to 2022.
Executive Commitee
Vice-Presidents
Tina Bilban earned a BSc in Philosophy and Comparative Literature and achieved a PhD in Literature. She became a literary critic focused on YA and children’s literature. Since 2007, Tina has been a member of the professional national board for the evaluation of children’s literature in Slovenia, which assesses the complete production of children’s literature in each year. She has also authored three titles that encourage critical thinking in early readers and up to YA. Tina has been a member of IBBY Slovenia since 2010 and became its President in 2020.
Tina was first elected on the IBBY Executive Committee for the period 2022–24.
Additional roles:
- EC Representative on the BookBird, Inc. Board
Tucker Stone holds a BA of Arts from Piedmont University, GA, where he majored in Philosophy, Religion and Theatre. He started his publishing career in 2013, working consecutively at Nobrow US & Flying Eye Books, The Comics Journal, and Consortium/Ingram Content Group. He is currently Executive Editor for TOON Books/Astra Books For Young Readers. From 2023-24, Tucker Stone served as USBBY President and helped the organization emerge from pandemic-era restrictions by spearheading two events, the 2022 Nashville Regional Congress and the 2023 New York conference at Scholastic Headquarters. He also served for three years as a member of the MoCCA Festival Steering Committee and has been a member of the Children’s Book Council (CBC).
Additional roles:
- Liaison Officer for North America
- Institutional liaison for the International Literacy Association (ILA) and REFORMA
- EC Representative on the BookBird, Inc. Board
Voting Members
Tobechukwu Anyachebelu graduated in Law from the Nigerian Law School in 2019. Since 2021, she has headed the administrative department of the Bookbuzz Foundation, where she manages children’s book publications, interacts with authors and illustrators, manages teams, collaborates on training syllabuses for authors and illustrators and ensures the efficient operation of various initiatives. She also collaborates with Ouida Books, a publishing house based in Lagos, Nigeria. Tobechukwu is an active member of the IBBY Statutes Reform Committee which was formed at the end of 2023.
Additional roles:
- Regional Liaison Officer for Africa
- Member of the 2026 IBBY Reading Promotion Awards Jury
- Member of the Projects Subcommittee
Charalambos Demetriou
Charalambos Demetriou holds a master’s degree (M.Ed.) in Curriculum Development and Instruction with a focus on Literature, and has been an elementary school teacher for the past 21 years. Since 2017, he is counsellor to the Cyprus Ministry of Education and has been developing suggestions, educational materials and workshops to improve his country’s literary education. In 2019, Charalambos Demetriou joined the Cyprus IBBY board. He is active in all the Section’s local actions and been representing Cyprus IBBY at international book fairs. In 2023, he served as a member of the organizing committee for the European Regional Conference of IBBY in Bologna.
Additional roles:
- Regional Liaison Officer for Europe
- Member of the 2026 IBBY Reading Promotion Awards Jury
Hazel Hernández holds a BA in documentation and information, an Executive Master in Cultural Management, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Children’s Literature obtained in Costa Rica and Spain. She started her career as project officer for the Central America regional office of UNESCO before turning to librarianship for ten years.
She is the founder of Fundación Leer, which became IBBY Costa Rica in 2013. Since then, the Foundations’ projects have benefitted to over 23,000 children in diverse educational settings, immigrant communities, marginalized regions, etc. Since 2022, she is the regional coordinator of IBBY Latin America and the Caribbean and is currently editor of Voces y Tintas, the digital publication of the Latin American and Caribbean sections of IBBY.
Additional roles:
- Regional Liaison Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean
- Member of the 2026 IBBY Reading Promotion Awards Jury
- Member of the Projects Subcommittee
- Institutional Liaison for CERLALC, OEI and Premio SM de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil
Elisabetta Lippolis holds a Degree in Translation obtained from the University of Trieste, and a Postgraduate Degree in Reading and Literature for Children and Adolescents from the University of Padova. For over twenty years, she worked as an event coordinator and project manager for the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, combining her professional activity with volunteer work. Since 2021, she is a full- time consultant specialising in reading projects and training in benefit of different collectives, including restricted women, hospitalised children and medical staff. She currently serves as vice-president of IBBY Italy and is the Chair of the 39th IBBY World Congress of Trieste.
Additional roles:
- Co-chair of the 2026 IBBY Reading Promotion Awards Jury
- Member of the Projects Subcommittee
Jane O’Hanlon is a Doctor of Education and holds two MAs, respectively in Women’s Studies and in Children’s Literature. Jane O’Hanlon has served as head of education for Poetry Ireland for 25 years, where she is in charge of the national Writers-in-Schools scheme, an extensive outreach programme into schools and colleges at primary, secondary and third level. She has been President of IBBY Ireland since 2016 and took part in the organization of an IBBY conference in Dublin, in 2005. Jane was a Fulbright Scholar at Poets House and Maxine Greene Institute, in New York in early 2024.
Additional roles:
- Co-chair of the 2026 IBBY Reading Promotion Awards Jury
- Member of the Projects Subcommittee
Virginia Phiri is a retired accountant. She graduated from Chautauqua Literary Circle and is widely known for her literary work. She founded Zimbabwe Women Writers in 1990 and the Zimbabwean Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Association in 1996. She also served as associate editor for the “Women Writing Africa Southern African Region” commissioned by Feminist Press of New York in 2023. Virginia presented her writing experiences as an African woman writer at Frankfurt Book Fair in 2008. Virginia sits on several boards, including the Women's Caucus of the AfricanLiterature Association (WOCALA), and PEN Zimbabwe. She is an African Orchid expert who sits on the IUCN Species Survival Commission and has co-authored over 70 articles in orchid journals.
Additional roles:
- Regional Liaison Officer for Africa
- Member of the Projects Subcommittee
- Institutional Liaison for PEN
Luis Zendrera grew up in a bilingual household and went on to study Economy and Law at the University of Barcelona. He works for the publishing house Editorial Juventud, which was established in 1923, and has been its manager for the past 27 years. Among his many achievements in Spain, he sat on the Board of the Publishers Guild of Catalonia, and headed the Young Children’s Literature in the Guild of Publishers of Catalonia. He is co-founder of the Association Album. Luis became the President of IBBY Catalonia in 2019, and has been President of IBBY Spain (OEPLI) since 2021.
Luis was first elected on the IBBY Executive Committee for the period 2022–24.
Additional roles:
- Member of the 2026 IBBY Reading Promotion Awards Jury
Zhang Mingzhou is an active translator, publisher, editor, rights manager and international children's reading promoter. After he graduated from the Shanghai International Studies University in 1991, he worked for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He served in several juries for children’s books, including BIB (Bratislava Illustration Biennial). He was the organizer of the 30th IBBY World Congress held in Macau, China in 2006.
Mingzhou was elected IBBY President in 2018 and served in this function until 2022. Previously he was Executive Committee Member in several occasions (2008–2012; 2014–2018) and he chaired the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award Jury in 2012.
Additional roles:
- Regional Liaison for Asia-Pacific
- Member of the Projects Subcommittee
- Institutional Liaison for the International Publishers Association (IPA)
Ex-officio Members
Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury President
Shereen Kreidieh holds a PhD in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University with a thesis on Publishing and Marketing of Lebanese Children’s Books in the Arab World. In 1998, she established and continues to manage Dar Asala, a publishing house producing high quality children’s books in Arabic. She is a member of several organizations, including the International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) and BookAid. She is currently the president of the Lebanese Board of Books for Young People (LBBY), as well as a lecturer of children's literature and social work at Haigazian University in Lebanon.
Shereen Kreidieh was a member of the IBBY Executive Committee from 2018 to 2022 and she sat in the Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury 2018 and 2024. She is an an ex-officio Member of the current Executive Committee.
Additional roles:
- Regional Liaison for the Middle East and North Africa
- Institutional Liaison for UNICEF and UNESCO
Chair of the IBBY Trust
Redza Khairuddin is currently the President of Malaysia Board on Books for Young People (MBBY). He obtained a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from RMIT University, Australia in 1993 and an MBA from Ohio University, USA in 1996. He has been actively involved in publishing for more than 25 years, most notably in the national publication of educational and children's books. In Malaysia he has been involved in various roles in the development and promotion of books and publications. He organized the 2nd Asia Oceania IBBY Regional Conference 2015 and the 38th IBBY World Congress, held in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in 2022.
He has served as EC Member from 2006 to 2008 and from 2018 to 2022. He was elected IBBY President in 2010 and served in the position until 2014. In April 2022, Redza was appointed Chair of the IBBY Trust with the mission to reactivate the activity of this important fundraising committee. He is an ex-officio Member of the current Executive Committee.
Treasurer
Hasmig Chahinian holds a PhD in children's literature from the University Paris 13. She works in the International Division of the National Centre for Children’s Literature, which is a service of the French National Library. Hasmig is the liaison officer for IBBY France and Hasmig collaborates with the National Centre for Children’s Literature on various publications, works on promoting reading and children’s literature, and holds training sessions in France and abroad. Due to her background as Armenian, Lebanese, and French, Hasmig is interested in questions related to multicultural identity and languages.
Hasmig has been a member of EC and liaison officer for Europe from 2010 to 2014 and from 216 to 2020. She also served as vice-president of IBBY (2012-2014).
Secretariat
Executive Director
Carolina Ballester was born in Paris and studied in Spain and France, obtaining an MA in Political Science from the Madrid Complutense University and degrees in Chinese and Arabic from the French National Institute of Oriental Studies (INALCO). She worked as a translator and as cultural attaché at the Consulate of Spain in Shanghai. For ten years, she was in charge of international programmes for the Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair, where she promoted and developed international interest in international children’s books in general, and picture books in particular. She served on juries for children’s illustration catalogues and contests. Carolina joined IBBY as Executive Director in 2022 and brought international experience and fluency in several languages. She is an ex-officio Member of the Executive Committee.
Additional roles:
- Institutional Liaison for UNICEF and UNESCO
Administration and Communications Officer
Alessandra Leopardi was born in Lechería, Venezuela and immigrated to the United States at a young age, graduating with a BA in International Studies and East Asian Languages and Literature from the University of Florida. She pursued an MA in Global Issues at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, where she spent a number of years teaching English Literature at a private school in Tokyo. She moved to Switzerland to pursue an MA specialising in Human Rights and Humanitarianism at the Geneva Graduate Institute, where her research focused on the importance of literature and reading in ensuring children’s right to a quality education. During her time at the Institute, Alessandra worked with the International Publishers Association, supporting the Secretariat in developing communications and conducting research. Alessandra joined IBBY in February 2025, bringing her diverse cultural background, her rich international experience, her passion for education, and her sensitivity for IBBY’s mission and values.