Phyllis C. Hunter was an internationally renowned literacy expert who served as an advisor to both the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education. Phyllis Hunter worked as a district reading manager, principal, and speech and language therapist. She was named the Marcus Garvey Educator of the Year by the National Alliance of Black Educators and presented with Scholastic Education’s Heroes Award for her contributions to the field of children’s literacy. She served on the advisory board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, which awards the nation’s largest yearly K–12 public education prize, and was also on the advisory board of several national literacy organizations, including Consortium for Reading Excellence, the Neuhaus Education Center, and the National Center for Family Literacy. She was the creator of the Phyllis C. Hunter Classroom Libraries and author of It’s Not Complicated! What I Know For Sure About Helping Our Students of Color Become Successful Readers.