Dawna Markova followed her precious grandmother's footsteps to become a midwife, but rather than babies, she helps birth possibilities within and between people. She has lived many incarnations in the past seven decades as an author, teacher, psychotherapist, researcher, executive advisor, and organizational fairy godmother. One of the creators of the best-selling Random Acts of Kindness series, Dawna is the author of many other inspirational books, including: I Will Not Die an Unlived Life: Reclaiming Purpose and Passion; Reconcilable Differences: Connecting In a Disconnected World; Collaborative Intelligence: Thinking With People Who Think Differently; A Spot of Grace: Remarkable Stories of How You DO Make a Difference.
Sarah Smithton is an actor, voice actor, and singer born and raised in San Francisco, CA. Growing up, she was a familiar face on Bay Area stages, and at age 12 she received the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Female Performance in a Musical for her work in the Mountain Play Association's production of Annie. Sarah is a member of Actors' Equity Association. She has performed in theaters across the country, and has worked extensively in the development of new plays and musicals. Her voice can be heard everywhere from Netflix animated series to Audio Verse Award nominated audio dramas. Sarah's also an aerialist who has performed aerial dance on film and at various venues like The Slipper Room. She trained privately with Jeffrey Bihr, with Conservatory Theatre Ensemble at Tamalpais High School, and received her BFA in Musical Theatre, emphasis in experimental theatre, from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Sarah currently lives in New York City. When she's not onstage or behind the mic, you can find her upside down training on various aerial apparatus, exploring museums, hanging out with her feral rescue cat, Nimbus, or petting the stray cat that followed her down the street.*