
The Southfield-based Better Business Bureau of Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula has recognized Claire Aldin Publications as a recipient of the 2020 Torch Awards.
“This was a very competitive year for our Torch Awards for Ethics,” says Melanie Duquesnel, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Michigan. “All of our applicants had impressive applications, but our six recipients stood out amongst their fellow finalists. It is wonderful to be able to award businesses for their hard work in putting ethics at the forefront.”
Claire Aldin Publications is a publishing company that is accredited by the bureau and is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association. De’Andrea Matthews, founder and CEO, is working to pave the way for more African American authors in an effort to diversify the publishing industry.
According to the 2019 Diversity Baseline Study by Lee and Low Books, 24 percent of people who work in publishing are people of color, and 5 percent of these are African American. At Claire Aldin, 78 percent of authors are women, and 100 percent identify as African American.
The Better Business Bureau serving Eastern Michigan is a nonprofit organization with the purpose of promoting an ethical marketplace and creating a community of trustworthy businesses and charities. It provides its services free to the public in its service area that spans the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula from Jackson County, north through central Michigan to Alpena, and includes the entire Upper Peninsula.