The Office of Letters and Light is overseen by a wise, tireless, and strikingly good-looking Board of Directors.

Chris Baty. The founder of National Novel Writing Month and Executive Director of the Office of Letters and Light also serves as an ex-officio board member, offering his sage counsel and top-notch coffee pouring skills at board meetings. In addition to his oversight of OLL's programs, Chris works as a freelance writer; his work has appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, the Believer, and Lonely Planet guidebooks.

Eric Doherty. Eric Doherty is an associate at the law firm of Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, and practices in the area of venture capital and matters of general business and corporate law. Eric is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where he served as an articles editor on the editorial board of the Michigan Law Review. Apart from negotiating contracts and drafting partnership agreements, Eric enjoys brewing beer and dreams of completing his first novel about a guitar-playing lawyer.

Ellen Martin. Ellen Martin is an MBA candidate at the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is researching current trends in social entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility. Prior to business school, she worked in administrative and programmatic functions for arts and education organizations in Connecticut, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to her board duties at the Office of Letters and Light, Ellen also serves on the board of Root Division (a community arts organization based in the Mission District of San Francisco), and sits on the advisory board of the Haas School’s Nonprofit and Public Management Program.

Kara Platoni. Kara Platoni is Board Secretary for the Office of Letters and Light, a position which draws on the note-taking, archiving, and snack-eating skills she has honed in her journalism career. When not at board meetings, Kara is a freelance science writer for various nerdy publications and studies Isshinryu karate. Kara has written seven middling-to-dreadful NaNoWriMo novels, and clearly has not learned to quit while she is behind.

Diane Reese. Diane Reese has worked at IBM Research for 24 years, providing technical training, application development management, and usability studies; she is currently supporting a Blue Gene supercomputer and looking at virtual worlds. In her years as a volunteer for National Engineers Week and the Digital Clubhouse Network, she has found a love of helping young people use and get excited about technology for the common good. Diane is the mother of a college sophomore and a high school senior, and is a five-time winner of National Novel Writing Month.

Russell Uman. Russell Uman is a web programmer and systems administrator living in Oakland, California. Through his work with National Novel Writing Month, National Corndog Day, and his position at the Public Library of Science, Russell has focused on creating online communities with open source tools. Involved with NaNoWriMo since 2003, he is still hoping to win one of these years.

Christopher White. The owner of Rickshaw Stop and Olive Restaurant and Bar, Christopher White has played host to many of the San Francisco Bay Area's finest cultural, musical, and artistic events. He's also an avid traveler and cyclist.

The day-to-day operations of the Office of Letters and Light are handled by a crack team of administrative titans.

Tavia Stewart, Managing Editor. Before coming to the Office of Letters and Light, Tavia Stewart worked at the nonprofit 826 Valencia, tutoring children of all ages---including English as Second Language students---in creative writing and bookmaking. She has also worked with the nonprofit literary magazine ZYZZYVA, helping keep books, keep organized, and edit the magazine. Additionally, Tavia is a member of the Board of Directors at Watchword Press, where she takes excellent notes, helps produce a bi-annual magazine, and curates multimedia-art fundraisers.

Chris Baty, Executive Director. Chris gives all the credit to Tavia.