Within a community of women writers, WriteGirl promotes creativity and self-expression to empower girls.
Keren Taylor, Executive Director of WriteGirl, has been a community leader for two decades. In 2001, she founded WriteGirl with the idea of leveraging the skills of women writers to inspire teen girls. Keren has overseen WriteGirl’s expansion into a thriving community of women and teen writers and an organization that helps hundreds of Los Angeles youth annually. WriteGirl received national attention in 2021 when WriteGirl alum Amanda Gorman performed her poetry at the Biden-Harris Inauguration. In 2020, Keren and WriteGirl received the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award “spotlighting efforts to bring books, publishing and storytelling into the future...and recognizing WriteGirl’s contributions to the community in promoting literacy, creativity and self-expression to empower girls.” In November 2013, WriteGirl was honored by First Lady Michelle Obama with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest national honor awarded to exemplary after-school and out-of-school time programs from across the country. In 2014, Keren was selected as a CNN Hero of the Week, recognizing her efforts to leverage the professional skills of women writers to help youth.
Keren has served on the board of the Arts for Healing and Justice Network (AHJN). Working with a team of editors and designers, Keren has directed the production of more than two dozen anthologies of writing by teen girls and their mentors, which have received 95 national and international book awards. Passionate about helping women and girls, Keren is a frequent speaker at conferences and book festivals nationwide. She has served as a Community Champion and facilitator for the Annenberg Foundation's Alchemy Program, helping guide nonprofit leaders to organizational success.
In 2018, Keren became one of 12 women leaders and entrepreneurs invited to serve as a member of the Barbie Global Advisory Council to help shape Mattel, Inc.’s “Evolution of Barbie.”
Keren is an assemblage artist and mosaicist. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the University of British Columbia, a Piano Performance Degree from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, and a Diploma from the American Music and Dramatic Academy, New York City.
