APA Board of directors

The APA is led by a volunteer board and committees in a variety of areas. They are supported by an Executive Director and APA headquarters staff who are available to assist with questions at any time.

The nine directors are elected by the Publisher members and hold their position for two-year terms. Affiliate Members – including retailers, suppliers, individual industry professionals, voice talent, librarians, students, and media – may fill up to four of those spots. APA leadership also includes a slate of officers who are appointed annually by the Board. Additionally, members volunteer to lead or participate in committees that strengthen the offerings of the APA.

APA 2025-2026 Board of Directors' Goals:

  • Drive growth and evolution in the audio publishing industry

  • Highlight the art, craft, expertise, and creators of spoken word experiences

  • Provide research, education and networking opportunities for all members

  • Increase diversity within APA membership and board positions

  • Fight audio piracy

For information concerning the full structure of the association, please refer to its bylaws. Or listen to the bylaws here.

Officers

  • Sean McManus has been a part of the audiobook industry for close to 15 years. He has held posts at Audible, HarperCollins, Spotify & Scholastic. He is currently the President & Publisher of Dreamscape Media, LLC.

  • Emily Pike Stewart has worked on Grammy and Audie Award-winning audiobooks and has extensive experience across the spoken word industry. She is currently Senior Audio Producer for Sounds True, Inc. while continuing to produce, direct, and narrate independently. She is chair of the APA Accessibility Committee and host of audiobook podcast The Nomad Narrator featuring in-depth, on-location interviews with narrators and authors across America. Emily lives in New York City with her partner Chris, and when she’s not in the studio you can probably find her in Fort Tryon Park.

  • Adam Fritz is the CEO of Pozotron, Inc. and has been with the company since 2021. Adam has a BA and MBA, and prior to Pozotron he held leadership roles with multiple companies in the professional sport, gaming, and software industries. Adam lives in Vancouver, Canada with his 2 sons and they are currently listening to Stephen Fry’s Harry Potter audiobooks together.

  • Erin Bennett is a Los Angeles-based actress whose passion for storytelling makes her a natural fit for audiobooks. Winner of multiple Earphones and Audie nominations, she narrated one of AudioFile’s “Best Audiobooks of 2016,” and has recorded over 450 titles. Her genres vary widely, and has been named by Audible, a "pied piper narrator. If she narrates, I listen!" She recently sang for First Lady Dr. Jill Biden in Washington, D.C. with her Andrews Sisters trio, The Harmony Dolls.

  • Lee Jarit is the Global Head of Publisher and Partner Relations at Audible. He joined Audible over a decade ago and has held numerous positions within the company across business affairs and content and publisher partnerships. In his current role, Lee collaborates with independent creators and audio publishers, large and small, to ensure that their recordings are made available to millions of Audible listeners around the world. To date Lee has listened to over 500 audiobooks.

  • Danielle D'Orlando is the Curator of Audio at Princeton University Press, home to the first in-house university press audiobook division: Princeton Audio. She spent much of her career at Yale University Press where she spearheaded their audio program, including the development of Yale Press Audio.

directors

  • President and Publisher of Hachette Audio, Ana Maria is an industry veteran with over 20 years of audiobook and digital content publishing and business development experience. Ana Maria spent most of her career at Harper Collins Publishers, working as the audiobook publisher and also VP Publisher of Harper Media, and VP Digital Innovation. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

  • Lori Benton is the President of Scholastic Audio and Weston Woods and the VP & Picture Book Publisher for the Trade Publishing division of Scholastic Inc, a global children's publishing, education and media company. In this capacity, Lori oversees all aspects of Scholastic Audio, Weston Woods, and the picture book publishing, as well as the digital strategy for all imprints of the Trade division. Prior to joining Scholastic, Lori was Vice President, and Publisher of the Children’s Books Division at Harcourt; Associate Publisher, Director of Marketing for Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.

  • Lauren Cannavino is the Senior Manager of Content Partnerships at OverDrive. Lauren serves on the APA Board of Directors, EBMA Board of Directors and has her MA in English from Cleveland State University. At OverDrive, Lauren manages large independents, audiobook, children’s and educational publishers.

  • Laura Gachko is Vice President of Content at RBmedia, the largest independent audiobook publisher in the world. As VP of Content at RBmedia, Laura oversees the acquisition activity for the RB, HighBridge, and Ascent imprints.

  • Victoria Gerken is the Publisher at Podium Audio. She has welcomed independent authors into the Podium family since 2016. She previously worked with authors in traditional publishing roles - at Random House and Alfred A. Knopf - where she was a publicist and sold subsidiary rights. She got her first taste of entrepreneurship in publishing as the founder of the Random House Speakers Bureau.

  • Brad Hill is the Associate Publisher of Audio at HarperCollins. He was previously the Studio Production Manager at Brilliance Publishing, an Amazon company. He has worked in the publishing industry for over 20 years and resides in Nashville, TN.

  • Amy has been on the front lines of the revolutionary growth of the audiobook industry since the days of abridged cassettes! She currently leads the audiobook program at Spiegel & Grau. Prior to that she spent almost 20 years at PRH Audio as the Editorial Director and Associate Publisher.

  • Colleen Prendergast is the Associate Director of Licensing at Spotify, where she currently leads the company's audiobook publishing division. Previously, she oversaw the audiobook publishing and international content strategy for Findaway. She has worked in the publishing industry for more than 10 years.

  • Dan Zitt has spent the past 27 years of his audiobook career in the audiobook industry. He is the creative catalyst for over 2000 audiobooks, collaborating with artists, thinkers, politicians, musicians and writers such as Barack and Michele Obama, Bill Clinton, the Beastie Boys, Dolly Parton, Rick Rubin, and other notable award winning actors, celebrities and public figures. 13 of his audiobooks have been nominated for Grammys with 4 winning the award. He is also the founder of Ahabtalent.com, a casting website designed to create opportunity for actors around the world.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • Jim brings decades of leadership experience across major national organizations, combining strategic vision with a creative, forward-thinking approach. Before launching his management firm in 2022, he served as the Inaugural Director of The Center for Business in the Capital at American University. His career also includes leading the Greater Washington Board of Trade as President and CEO, and serving as Chief Operating Officer of the American Institute of Architects.

    He has held board roles with organizations such as the Smithsonian National Zoo, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital. Originally from Queens, New York, Jim now lives in Arlington, Virginia. As he steps into his role with the APA, he brings fresh energy, perspective, and a collaborative spirit to his partnerships with the Board of Directors and staff.

  • jdinegar@audiopub.org