Monisha Bajaj is a South Asian American author and a Professor of International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. A Year of Kites (2026) is her debut picture book and was inspired by her lifelong love of kites. She is the editor and author of eight academic books and numerous articles on issues of peace, human rights, migration, and education; she is also the founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Human Rights Education. Dr. Bajaj has developed curriculum and teacher training materials for non-profit and national advocacy organizations as well as inter-governmental organizations, such as UNICEF and UNESCO. In 2015, she received the Ella Baker/Septima Clark Human Rights Award (2015) from Division B of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Dr. Bajaj has contributed widely-read guest blogs for educational sites such as Learning for Justice and Edutopia.