Our Team
Rowana Abbensetts-Dobson
Rowana Abbensetts-Dobson (she/her) is a Caribbean American writer and founder of Spoken Black Girl, a publication focused on amplifying the voices of Black women writers and eliminating mental health stigmas. Rowana received her BA in English Literature from Kenyon College. She is the author of Departure Story: a novel, and has had fiction and poetry published in Moko Magazine, Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, Culture Push, When We Exhale: Anthology of Black Women Rooted in Ancestral Medicine, Free Verse Magazine, and Zora's Den: The Fire Inside Volume lll Anthology. As a freelance health and wellness writer, Rowana has written for Business Insider, Well +Good, and Electric Lit. Rowana holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University.
Jana Jones has always found solace in the written word. As a child, she could frequently be found sitting in a corner writing another one of her short stories. In 2014, while living in Los Angeles, she created the Anansi Project, a creative writing program for youth and young adults. The finished product was a literary magazine called Anansi’s Web. In 2021, Jana released her debut adult fiction novel titled Vivid, a multi-generational family story inspired by the controversial history of toxic lead exposure in low-income communities which took place in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. In 2022, Jana wrote What Happened to Alice? a speculative fiction piece inspired by her love of all things Southern Gothic. In June 2026, Jana released her second novel, Scenes from a Chrysalis. When she’s not writing, Jana can usually be found daydreaming while listening to music, watching documentaries, and taking pictures of cool things she sees along the way. Visit Janajjones.com to learn more.
Destineé is from Chesapeake, Virginia, and spent a large part of her upbringing in Prince George's County, Maryland. She has been editing mainly poetry for 6 years and has enjoyed helping writers across all genres get closer to their goals. She writes poetry, fiction, and children's books. Most of her work revolves around religion, mother/daughter relationships, nature, and the black experience.
Follow Destineé on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/she_sees.she_writes/
Emelda Juanita De Coteau is a loving wife, mama, creative (writer, podcaster, spiritual activist / organizer), and believer seeking God anew in each moment. Although based in Baltimore, this daughter of a Honduran immigrant feels at home throughout the world. She leads Pray with Our Feet (PWF), an online community lifting the intersection of progressive Christian faith and social justice; she co-hosts the PWF podcast with her Mom, Trudy.
Her writing has appeared in Good Faith Media, Spoken Black Girl Magazine, Good Life Detroit, Beautifully Said Magazine, The Baltimore Times, and on the Pray with our Feet website where she regularly blogs and shares devotionals on spiritual life. Emelda has also blogged for women-led organizations: Breaking the Silence...Healing the Pain and Modestine Tea.
She is also the founder of When Motherhood Looks Different, a community -based small business helping Mamas on a neurodivergent parenting journey center mindfulness and connect in community by offering events, resources, support and caregiver support sessions. Emelda is a mindfulness facilitator working through a trauma-informed lens. She lives in Maryland with her husband Kes and daughter Nai.