About The Author

Hope Michelle Ayers

Hope Michelle Ayers, author of Gabriel’s Balloon and CEO of Hope & Air, Incorporated, is a civil rights attorney and social justice advocate. She is a native of Decatur, Alabama, and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Her twenty-five years of legal experience includes her current role as General Counsel for Black Voters Matter Fund, a successful private litigation practice, an appointment as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Alabama, and seventeen years as a federal attorney for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/FEMA. Hope is a graduate of Alabama State University (1993, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science) and the University of Alabama (1998, Juris Doctorate), and she is a lifelong supporter/member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Alabama State Bar Association, and the Alabama State University (ASU) National Alumni Association. In addition to her first novel, Gabriel’s Balloon, she has authored two collections of poetry, Love Defined, and Acquaintances, along with a series of children’s books entitled The Chelsea Tales.