Kathleen Welton advocates for beaches, birds, and wildlife; is an award-winning independent publisher; and writes picture books and screenplays.

She began her book publishing career as a college textbook sales rep. Since then, she has served as senior editor for Dow Jones-Irwin, publisher for Dearborn Trade, vice president and publisher for IDG Books, director for H&R Block, and director of book publishing for the American Bar Association. As publisher for aka Associates, she collaborates with authors and organizations on writing and publishing projects.

After growing up in Southern California, Kathleen graduated from Stanford University with a BA in both English and Italian Literature. She earned a Feature Film Writing Certificate with distinction from UCLA Extension. She is currently pursuing a Master of Humanities in Creative Writing at Tiffin University.

Kathleen supports organizations from the Chicago Bird Alliance and Lincoln Park Zoo to the National Forest Foundation and SEE Turtles. 

When she is not writing, Kathleen enjoys meditating, reading, and exploring the Lake Michigan shoreline. She lives in Chicago with a menagerie of Burmese cats.