Bookspring
Mar 23, 2023
Emily Cicchini and Jessy Morris
Bookspring

Emily Ball Cicchini, PhD
Executive Director

Serving as the Executive Director, Emily has balanced BookSpring’s hopeful vision for the future with its strong tradition of promoting reading in the home since 2015. She’s inspired by the critical work of sustaining a steady stream of the right books to the right kids at the right time. She has over 30 years of experience in nonprofit and education sectors, including leadership roles with Texans for the Arts, VSA Arts of Texas, ZACH Theatre, The University of Texas at Austin, The International Centre for Women Playwrights, and One Voice Central Texas. Her work is guided by a strong interest in social justice, access to knowledge for all, and a deep passion for language and stories. She’s a prolific and award-winning writer in a variety of genres. As a lifelong learner with a BFA in Theatre, MFA in Dramatic Writing, and Ph.D. in Organizational Communication and Technology, she loves poetry and enjoys gardening and space-watching with her family. Her favorite children’s book is The Golden Books of Poems for the Very Young by Louis Untermeyer, pictures by Joan Walsh Anglund, and also the Basher Science Series.

Jessy Morris
Volunteer Coordinator

No matter if you’re an individual looking for a way to give back or leading a group of volunteers for a team building event, Jessy is the person to reach for helpful activities across all programs and book donation deliveries. Jessy recruits, trains, and oversees all BookSpring volunteers, and also manages our Open Book and BookSpring Days community based partnerships. She helps manage book donation requests and coordinates with our partners to connect the books we receive with those who need them. Before joining this staff, Jessy worked as a Literacy Tutor through AmeriCorps, helping students in first and second grade improve their reading skills. Outside of her role at BookSpring, she likes to make new clothes, repurpose secondhand items into unique pieces, play guitar, and practice yoga. Her favorite children’s books are the Madeline series.