IVP's women authors are expert practitioners, gifted writers, and leading voices in the most important conversations happening today. On this page, you'll learn more about our women authors and their books. You'll also find articles, videos, and podcasts where you can hear directly from women's voices as they share more about their books and the impact that they are having in the church and the world.
March is when we recognize women authors during Women's History Month. Looking for even more voices to learn from? Discover our authors of color or browse all of IVP's authors. You can also hear from a wide variety of diverse voices on IVP's Every Voice Now podcast.
Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (MFA, Hollins) is a writer, speaker, podcaster, and journalist. She frequently speaks at churches and retreats and is the author of several Bible studies and devotionals, including Create in Me a Heart of Mercy, Breathing Through Grief, 100 Days of Strength in Any Struggle, and Walk, Run, Soar. Her award-winning children's books include Cora Cooks Pancit, Chasing God's Glory, and Kailani's Gift. A remarried widow, self-described foodie, and avid runner, Dorina lives in California with her husband Shawn and three daughters. Discover more at dorinagilmore.com.
Phyllis J. Le Peau worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for over two decades in St. Louis and the Chicago metro area. She is the author or coauthor of several Bible study guides, including Ephesians, Women of the New Testament, and Grandparenting in the LifeGuide Bible Studies series. She and her husband, Andy, have four married children and thirteen grandchildren.
Tara Beth Leach (MDiv, Northern Seminary) is a pastor, author, and speaker. The senior pastor at Good Shepherd Church (Naperville, Illinois), she has also served communities in the Chicago suburbs as well as Southern California. As the author of Emboldened, Radiant Church, and Forty Days on Being a Six, the cofounder of Propel Ecclesia, and cohost of The Pastor's Table podcast, Tara Beth writes and speaks widely about women in ministry and church leadership. She has two beautiful and rambunctious sons and has been married to the love of her life, Jeff, since 2006.
Jane Leadbetter leads the regional coordinators as part of her work on the Messy Church team. With experience in early childhood education, she has also worked in children's ministry in the diocese of Liverpool for twelve years. Jane has authored and coauthored several volumes in the Messy Church series.
Mary T. Lederleitner is founder and executive director of Missional Intelligence. She has a PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and an MA in intercultural studies from Wheaton College, and teaches as an adjunct professor at both institutions. She is a veteran mission leader and researcher who has served for two decades with the Wycliffe Global Alliance in a variety of international leadership roles. She serves on the OM Global Board and as a board member for Catalyst Services. She is also the author of Cross-Cultural Partnerships.
Helen Lee is an author, mom of three young men—which means she lives at Costco in her spare time—and the dog mom of a Mini Bernedoodle named Simba. She has written books for adults and is working on her first middle-grade novel. Kaylee Prays for the Children of the World is her first picture book.
Karen Lee-Thorp has written or cowritten more than fifty books and Bible studies, including the LifeChange series and the Doing Life Together series in the Purpose-Driven line. A former senior editor at NavPress, she is now a freelance writer living in Southern California with her husband, Greg.
Zion Lester became interested in her dad's work on a Saturday morning when she was seven years old. Since then, she has grown to become a community leader, writer, and speaker. She has also continued to regularly serve with Love Beyond Walls and encourages others her age and younger to volunteer too.
Nikole Lim is a speaker, educator, and consultant on leveraging dignity through the restorative art of storytelling. She is the founder and international director of Freely In Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping survivors and advocates to lead in ending sexual violence through their rewritten stories. Nikole graduated with a degree in film production from Loyola Marymount University and is currently pursuing a masters in global leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Susan C. Lim (PhD, UCLA) is a historian and writer. She has been a professor of history at Biola University in La Mirada, California, and is a speaker at conferences, churches, and retreats. She loves to share God's Word and serve at her home church, Mariners Church in Irvine, California. She resides in Southern California with her husband, Brian, and their two children.
Jessica Linn Evans is an author-illustrator whose books reinforce wonder for creation, inspire adventure and invention, and encourage loyalty and friendship with the lovely. She is the author and illustrator of Penguin Sets Sail and the illustrator of Little Mouse Finds A Friend, Waiting Through Winter, and Solar the Polar. Jessica lives in the beautiful state of Idaho with her husband and three of her four wonderful children.
Clare Loughrige and her husband Scott are cofounders and lead pastors of Crossroads Church and Ministries in Marshall, Michigan, where they have served for over twenty-five years. They are both certified Enneagram instructors, using the tool to engage professionals, small groups, and a two-year formational community. Clare is the author of two guidebooks on the Enneagram.
Mary E. Lowe (EdD, Nova Southeastern University) is associate dean for online programs and professor at Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University.
Karin Maag (PhD, The University of St. Andrews) is professor and director of the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies at Calvin University. She is the author of Does the Reformation Still Matter?, Lifting Hearts to the Lord: Worship with John Calvin in Sixteenth-Century Geneva, and Seminary or University: The Genevan Academy and Reformed Higher Education, 1560-1620.
Lynda MacGibbon is vice president of People and Culture for InterVarsity Canada. Before working for InterVarsity, she was a journalist for over twenty years. She lives in Toronto.
Andrea Mae is a leader at Urban Light Community Church, where she serves on the church board and chairs the pastor/parish committee. She works in special education and advocacy for the disability community, presenting at multiple organizations and universities.
Gillian Marchenko is an author, speaker, wife, mother and advocate for individuals with special needs. Gillian's first book was Sun Shines Down, and she has written for publications such as Chicago Parent, Thriving Family and Today's Christian Woman. She and her husband, Sergei, spent four years as church planters with the Evangelical Free Church of America in Kiev, Ukraine, and they now live with their four daughters in St. Louis, Missouri.
Susan L. Maros (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is an affiliate assistant professor of Christian leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she has also served as a doctoral supervisor, and an adjunct professor at the King's University, Southlake, Texas. She is a past president of the Academy of Religious Leadership.
Karen Wright Marsh is executive director and cofounder of Theological Horizons, a university ministry that has advanced theological scholarship at the intersection of faith, thought, and life since 1991. Karen directs daily programs, writes resources and curriculum, teaches weekly classes, mentors students, leads the staff, and speaks at retreats, churches, and campus ministries. She holds degrees in philosophy and linguistics from Wheaton College and the University of Virginia. Karen lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband, Charles Marsh.
Nicole Massie Martin (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is the chief impact officer at Christianity Today and the founder of Soulfire International Ministries. She is the author of Made to Lead and Leaning In, Letting Go. She serves on the executive council of the National Association of Evangelicals, the board of trustees for Fuller Theological Seminary, and the national advisory board for the Salvation Army. She is married to her best friend, Mark, and together they are raising two amazing daughters near Baltimore, Maryland.
Karen Mason (PhD, University of Denver) is associate professor of counseling and psychology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a psychologist working in the mental health field since 1990. She currently delivers direct care services at Northeast Behavioral Health in Ipswich, Massachusetts. A member of the American Psychological Association, Mason is the author of When the Pieces Don't Fit: Making Sense of Life's Puzzles.
Heather Matthews (DMin, Fuller Seminary) is the doctor of ministry program manager at Wheaton College Graduate School. She has also worked as a pastor, church planter, nonprofit leader, and global worker.
D. L. Mayfield is a writer and activist who has spent over a decade working with refugee communities in the United States. Her work has been published in McSweeney's, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Christian Century, Sojourners, Vox, and the Englewood Review of Books. She is also the author of Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children.
Teri McCarthy (Ph.D., University of Kansas) was director of faculty development and is now writer-in-residence for the International Institute for Christian Studies. She has taught at the university level long-term in China and Russia and short-term in Holland, Nigeria and Afghanistan. Her travel and teaching experiences have taken her to nearly fifty nations.
Terra McDaniel is a spiritual director for adults and children. She spent two decades as a pastor and ministry leader and earned her MDiv at Portland Seminary. McDaniel wrote More Than Ordinary with Doug Sherman and is a regular contributor to the Companioning Center blog. She lives with her husband in Austin, Texas, with her twin grandchildren nearby.
Hear More from Our Women Authors
What good gifts has God given your children? Amy and Rob Dixon, authors of the IVP Kids book "Penny Preaches," help parents and caregivers discern, embrace, and cultivate the vocational giftings of the children in their lives.
In her book "Nobody's Mother," New Testament scholar Sandra Glahn digs deep into evidence about the ancient Greek goddess Artemis of the Ephesians from both biblical and classical sources in order to bring into focus Paul's teaching in 1 Timothy. Read this interview to learn more about her thoughts on scholarship, mentoring, and the role of story in academic writing.