Heather Birchall, Program Manager for Premier Events

Heather is in charge of leading the booking and production of literary events with leading novelists, artists, and other cultural and political figureheads. Having held notable roles in museums in the UK, including at the V&A and Tate Britain, and for a Bay Area nonprofit, she brings her tremendous knowledge and passion for the book industry to Kepler’s.

Mariko Conner, Marketing Manager

Mariko joined Kepler’s Literary Foundation after a decade of working in publishing and nonprofit arts organizations around the Bay Area. Most recently she helmed special projects for the Bay Area Book Festival. She is the coeditor, with Malcolm Margolin, of the 2014 anthology Trail Posts: A Literary Exploration of California’s State Parks.

Angie Coiro, host and producer of This Is Now with Angie Coiro

Angie’s voice and interview style have been staples for Bay Area radio, TV, and podcast fans since the 1990s. Fifteen of those years were at KQED as radio announcer, news anchor, host of Friday Forum, and TV pledge drive host. She moved to the national airwaves with Mother Jones Radio on Air America. She recently retired her syndicated radio show In Deep when it reached its fifteenth anniversary.


Our Board

Patrick Corman is a marketing and communications consultant who advises business leaders, associations, and communities on communications strategy.  Patrick held senior positions at Regis McKenna and Edelman Public Relations before launching his own firm. His client list includes well-known companies, including  Motorola, Verisign, RSA Security, and many others. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a graduate degree in English literature from San Francisco State University.

Dan Gilbert is a high-tech entrepreneur, executive, and investor with many years of experience working with leading U.S. companies, including McKinsey & Company, Andersen Consulting, Palm Inc., Cisco Systems, and Barnes & Noble.  He serves on boards of both nonprofit and for-profit companies, including MIT, Band of Angels Acorn Fund, and QuakeFinder.  He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Praveen Madan is a business executive and social entrepreneur who has worked with well known companies including Microsoft, HP, Adobe Systems, A.T. Kearney, and Trilogy Software.  He has extensive experience in community service through pro-bono work for non-profits including San Francisco Public Press, March of Dimes, and Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network.  He is the CEO of Kepler’s Books, and CEO of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, a mission-based book publisher, and Heyday Publishers, a nonprofit book publisher.  He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and the University of Texas at Austin.