Hachette Book Group Hosts Second Annual Changing the Story Festival Highlighting Inclusion as a Driver of Publishing Success
Pictured L-R: Photo 1-Carrie Bloxson, David Shelley, Sara Munjack; Photo 2-Carrie Bloxson, Amina Iro; Photo 3- Sruti Swaminathan, Sara Munjack; Photo 4- HBG employees
Celebration featured a keynote from HBG author of The Perilous Fight former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick as well as Sruti Swaminathan, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU, LGBTQ Rights.
NEW YORK (September 14, 2026) — Hachette Book Group (HBG) proudly hosted the second annual Changing the Story Festival: Inclusion for Success on Thursday, September 10, 2026. The all-staff festival brought employees, authors and industry experts together for conversations about inclusion, the future of publishing, reaching more readers, and the ideas and perspectives that can help HBG and the industry succeed.
“Changing the Story is one of our core business pillars that ensures we’re a publishing organization that reflects the audiences we aim to serve. Publishing for all directly supports our mission of making it easier for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment, and opportunity,” said David Shelley, CEO, HBG.
The full-day festival featured dynamic conversations with industry experts including lessons on Hachette’s other strategic business pillars: Understanding Consumers, Owner Mentality, and Growth Mindset. The day also reflected that inclusion is integral to HBG’s work and mission.
“I’m pleased to bring back the Changing the Story Festival for a second year. The day offers a collective opportunity to gather, reflect, and celebrate the essential work of our Employee Resource Groups, Changing the Story Advisory Board, and HBG staff,” added Shelley.
The festival began with opening remarks from Chief People Officer, Carrie Bloxson and HBG Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Sara Munjack. The keynote address was delivered by HBG author of The Perilous Fight and former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick. He is the founder of the Know Your Rights Camp, Kaepernick Media (Formerly Ra Vision Media), and Kaepernick Publishing, and Lumi Story AI. He has been awarded Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award, the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, the ACLU Ralph Ellison Award for Defenders of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Arts, Business, Science, and Sports, the ACLU Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award, and numerous others for his work in athletics and advocacy.
Kaepernick was followed by the Agents of Change: Who Gets to Tell the Story panel, which featured two agents from Literary Agents for Change (LAOC), Amy Bishop-Wycisk and Tamara Kawar, two Editors from HBG, Associate Editor, Little, Brown & Company, Morgan Wu and Editorial Director, Nonfiction, Little, Brown & Company, Alexander Littlefield, moderated by Assistant Editor, Grand Central Publishing and Changing the Story Advisory Board member, Niyati Patel. Next came the Inkluded: Where Publishing Talent Begins panel, moderated by Legacy Lit Editor Amina Iro, featuring Michael Mejias Executive Director of Inkluded and Writers House, as well as Inkluded alums and HBG employees Maya Lewis and Alexandra Hightower.
Under the leadership of Carrie Bloxson and Sara Munjack, the festival was sponsored by all Hachette’s ten employee resource groups and HBG’s Changing the Story Advisory Board. Additionally, in the last year, staff representation continued to increase at the director and manager levels of the business to reflect our consumers more closely.
“Inclusion is fundamental to how we understand our employees, our authors and our readers, and ultimately to how we succeed as a business,” said Carrie Bloxson, Chief People Officer, Hachette Book Group. “Changing the Story gives us an opportunity to bring those conversations together and think more expansively about how we reach new audiences, create opportunity and strengthen the future of publishing.”
Changing the Story is a key HBG business pillar focused on strengthening inclusion and expanding opportunity across our workplace, publishing programs, and the broader communities of writers, readers, and publishing professionals.
The Afternoon Keynote Address came from Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU, LGBTQ Rights, Sruti Swaminathan. Swaminathan’s work includes impact litigation, as well as legislative and administrative advocacy, on behalf of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV across the United States.
Next was the Authors Against Book Bans: Keeping Stories on the Shelf panel, moderated by Bloxson, included Authors Against Book Bans (AABB) author and NY Chapter Lead Maureen Johnson, AABB author Frederick Joseph, Pen America Safety Program Rep beck Haberstroh, and HBG Senior Legal Counsel Andrew Goldberg. Neurodivergence as a Catalyst for Creation Author panel, was moderated by Editorial Director of Jessica Kingsley Publishing at Hachette UK Amy Lankester-Owen, and featured Hachette UK authors Jennifer Brunson, Liz Lewis, Megan Griffith, Haley Moss, and Jennifer Cook.
The event concluded with closing remarks from Shelley, as well as in-person and virtual interactive activities, including helping to package books to be sent prisoners by Right to Read, engagement with the newly improved Spanish Publishing Working Group catalogue, and a virtual Spoken Word Poetry session that will feature artists, NYC performers, and poets across diverse cultural backgrounds. The celebration in HBG’s New York headquarters also concluded with celebratory refreshments and a musical set from woman DJ Soph Thee Sage.
About Hachette Book Group:
Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading U.S. general-interest book publisher made up of dozens of esteemed imprints within the publishing groups Basic Books Group, Grand Central Publishing Group, Hachette Audio, Little, Brown and Company, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Orbit, Workman Publishing, and Running Press Group. We also provide custom distribution, fulfillment, and sales services to several publishing companies.
Our books and authors have received the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Booker Prize, Nobel Prize, James Beard Award, and other major honors.
We are committed to diversity in our company and our publishing programs, and to fostering a culture of inclusion for all our employees and authors. We are proud to be part of Hachette Livre, the world’s third-largest trade and educational publisher.
Visit hachettebookgroup.com to learn more about HBG imprints. For updated news follow HBG on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads, TikTok, X.com, Snapchat, and YouTube.
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Press Contact: Gabrielle Gambrell, Chief Communications Officer, Gabrielle.Gambrell@hbgusa.com