The best decision I made when completing my book was to hire Nakita to do the quote checking. I had thought I was meticulous in transcribing quotes; Nakita proved me wrong. We all make mistakes and I was thrilled that I could rely on Nakita to find mine. Her standard is high, her attention to detail uncompromising, and her response to queries always professional and timely. The book dealt with eighteenth-century cultural history and required much sleuthing to locate the archival materials. Nakita proved her academic cred by successfully tracking down all the hard-to-find sources. It was such a relief to know I could trust her work!
Professor Katherine Binhammer, English and Film Studies, University of Alberta
The Edmonton City as Museum project maintains an online collection of stories exploring Edmonton’s history and cultural heritage written by a variety of local authors. Nakita Valerio has been our primary story editor since June 2020, and I am so pleased with the quality of Nakita’s editing services. Not only does she provide quick and thorough copy edits, but her knowledge of historical thinking and approaches greatly enhances ECAMP stories. Her editing saves me so much time, and her suggestions to our authors always lead to higher quality final drafts. If your writing work deals with history, I highly recommend Nakita’s editing services!
Christina Hardie, Curator of the Edmonton City as Museum Project (Edmonton Heritage Council)
Nakita is amazing! As someone writing in their non-native language of English, I’ve used her services on several different kinds of work — copy-editing, completing a grant application etc. She is efficient, thorough, critical, constructive, and engages in the texts beyond what is expected from her, coming up with suggestions for improvements that really raise the quality, both in terms of form and content! I strongly recommend the expertise of The Drawing Board.
Professor Kristin Joachimsen, MF- Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
I would like to thank Nakita for her excellent editing services. She is thorough, efficient and most importantly, caring. The document Nakita edited for me was much stronger thanks to her writing skills, feedback and guidance. I endorse the Drawing Board’s expertise and more specifically Nakita’s exceptional customer service experience. I will definitely use Nakita’s services in the future with no hesitation.
Ibtissam Nkaili, CPA, Finance Partner, University of Alberta.
I am beyond blessed with Nakita as my editor. She is professional, friendly, and an entirely reliable person to work with. I had a few other editors in mind to work on my manuscript, but after speaking to Nakita and seeing her past notable work, I was confident she had the knowledge and skills needed to edit my work. I’m happy with her service and I can’t wait to work with her again.
Sabah Abdillahi, author of Reconnect
I am so glad thatI asked Nakita to edit some academic essays for me several years ago. Since then, she has edited/copy-edited/proofread at least two dozen essays, and a book I co-edited with others. She has consistently done an outstanding job. I strongly recommend her to academics looking for a reliable editor/copy-editor/proofreader who can work fast while never sacrificing quality. Following my recommendation, colleagues who have used her services have sent me notes expressing their appreciation for her work and thanking me.
Professor Emeritus Ehud Ben Zvi, History and Classics, University of Alberta
Before accessing the Drawing Board’s services, I was in an absolute panic about completing assignments and was frustrated that I wasn’t organized enough to submit the quality work I knew deep down I was capable of producing. What I expected to be merely writing assistance from an individual whose values and interests I align with, became a mentorship relationship where I’ve grown both personally and professionally. Nakita, at the Drawing Board, has helped me develop stronger academic skills and has created unique strategies catered to my learning challenges. Nakita is reliable and responsible. She will meet you where you are at, and has become the bridge for my ideas and thoughts to turn into excellent execution. Pursuing academia can be a lonely and daunting journey; however, I’ve found an ally, advocate, confidante and trusty supporter along the way, who provides critical feedback for my growth step-by-step. Not only have I built on my concepts and application in my field, and my grades improved, my motivation to succeed in my program has surpassed the limitations I previously felt held back by. I feel confident that I can utilize the tools and lessons I’ve gained well into my practice and career.
Tasnim Hasan, Masters of Social Work Student, University of Calgary
Nakita Valerio is a talented and distinct writer with the skill to deliver various styles of writing from journalism to autobiographies. Her expertise in both writing and research allow her to deliver thoughtful and in-depth content from human rights to political analysis for her clients, and her work is beyond others in her field.
Ahmad Attia, Incisive Strategy
I was so pleased with Nakita’s editing skills and speedy response time. My dissertation was not only hundreds of pages, but the cultural nuances made it quite a challenging read. That changed quickly with her editing. Thankfully, she saved me so much time and unnecessary stress with her work. I strongly recommend you use an editor for important works and even more strongly recommend Nakita for that job.
Dr. Mahdi Qasqas, University of Calgary, PhD in Social Work
I have had the pleasure of seeing the work of the Drawing Board over the last many years. I don’t think that you can go wrong working with Nakita Valerio and her team. She is passionate, principled, extraordinarily hard working, and the exact person you want working to make your project a reality. Going with Nakita and the Drawing Board should be the easiest decision of your life.
Mustafa Farooq, Executive Director, NCCM
The Ribbon Rouge Foundation engaged Nakita twice in the past year. Once, to complete a grant application with the Federal anti-racism program and the second time to create a fundraising campaign for the Black Equity in Alberta Rainforest. Nakita has been an invaluable ally and confidante. We found her to be a skilled and diligent writer, and she went above and beyond in broadly drawing on her knowledge and her resource skills to contribute to our work. We found that we could trust Nakita’s judgement in not just what content to include in our grant, but also about how to frame and approach the presentation of our work in order for us to be successful. She was very responsive and we appreciate how quickly Nakita came through on her deliverables. I extend my unreserved endorsement of Nakita for her research and writing skills.
Morẹ́nikẹ́ Ọláòṣebìkan, Ribbon Rouge Foundation
I hired Nakita Valerio to copy-edit my memoir. Among several amazing qualities, she has a reputation for being efficient, witty, and caring; and that was the kind of individual I needed to help guide me through the completion of my book. She asked the right questions to challenge me, and made meaningful comments that encouraged me to dig deeper when I thought I was done. I am thankful that she nudged me to revisit certain areas of the book because although I was hesitant, the finished product is beyond what I thought I could create. Nakita walked beside me on my book writing journey. I believe anyone would be lucky to have Nakita by their side at a time when perspective can be lost and emotions run high. She will give you the guidance that you need!
Maddie Laberge, author of “Not a Fairy Tale”
I want to thank Nakita for being the perfect person to help me with my book. I know that no one else would have been as amazing as she was. She did lots of research, listened to all of my aspirations for the book, and was easily and quickly able to make the process a breeze. She is always a joy to work with, on time and is, of course, an editing expert. I recommend anyone to work with Nakita if they need any sort of help with their book.
Layla B. Rachid, author of “Revive, Reclaim, Restore: Traditional Moroccan Wisdom to Heal the New Mother in the First Forty Days”
The Drawing Board 