Jasmine Richards
Category
Trailblazing innovator Award
Social
@storymixstudio
About
At Storymix, we publish ourselves or create outstanding inclusive stories for children's publishers and entertainment companies by collaborating with talented writers and illustrators from diverse backgrounds. We are dedicated to crafting stories that place kids and teens of colour at the center of the action. By discovering new voices, nurturing talent, and opening up publishing opportunities for racially minoritized writers and illustrators, we aim to change the conversation through commercial storytelling. This is our activism and our legacy. Storymix’s model provides apprenticeship-style support to its creatives, with invaluable editorial guidance, coaching and unique networking opportunities that equip them with the skills necessary to secure their own agents and independent book deals. In 2023, Jasmine received a Special Commendation in the Editor of the Year category at the British Book Awards. In 2026 Storymix's first independently published title was shortlisted for British Book of the Year.
What’s the most exciting part of being named a DiNN Highly Commendable for you or your organisation?
Being surrounded by other Black-led organisations and leaders doing the unglamorous, structural work of building something that actually moves the needle for our community. Storymix has always had a visibility problem inside our own community because of how we work. We're the studio behind the book, not the publisher whose logo is on the cover, so a lot of Black parents and readers who've bought our titles for their kids have no idea Storymix exists, let alone that we're Black-owned. A recognition like this from DiNN starts to close that gap. It puts us in front of exactly the movers and shakers, funders and future collaborators who should know what we're building.
