Season 21: A Year of Growth and Innovation
/WriteGirl Year in Review
2021 – 2022
WriteGirl’s 21st season was a year of growth, innovation and optimism. Our teens published their writing in a new online literary journal, performed their work for audiences across the country and continued to thrive through mentorship.
WriteGirl continued to be a place where teens could belong and feel supported throughout their high school years and beyond, even through the ever-changing challenges stemming from the pandemic.
During the best of times, girls and gender-expansive youth face daily pressures related to self-esteem, depression and other mental health issues, cyber-bullying, violence, unstable family environments and limited resources. The upheaval of the past two years has greatly magnified these issues as teens deal with stress, isolation, and uncertainty.
The US Surgeon General recently issued a 53-page report declaring a mental health crisis among young people. Across the country, student absences are a significant issue. In some districts, absences doubled in just one year.
Within a community of women writers, WriteGirl promotes creativity and self-expression to empower teen girls and gender-expansive youth.
In 2021-22, the WriteGirl organization served over 800 teens, young adults and educators, primarily from Los Angeles, and in recent years has expanded to work with teens throughout the U.S. and internationally. We have learned a great deal during a time of significant growth and are now poised for continued expansion.
Throughout our 21st season, WriteGirl provided creative writing workshops, mentoring by professional women writers, publications and college entrance guidance to youth. All programming was presented online in response to COVID-19 and at no cost to participants.
We’ve proudly watched Harvard graduate and WriteGirl alum Amanda Gorman’s meteoric rise as she became the youngest U.S. Inaugural Poet. Amanda worked hard to find her voice and is part of the next generation of poets using their words to speak up about social justice and activist causes. She told Vogue magazine recently: “I learned poetry through WriteGirl… It was absolutely electrifying for me when I was in high school to have that opportunity.”
In 2021-22, nearly 400 poets, novelists, journalists, screenwriters, songwriters, and more volunteered their time to help WriteGirl teens develop a creative voice and the confidence to express themselves through writing. WriteGirl matched 150 teens and alums with mentors for one-to-one online writing sessions and to work on special projects.
During the year, WriteGirl enrolled 100 teens and recruited more than 100 new volunteers who completed two full days of training before working with WriteGirl youth.
“Before WriteGirl, I really didn’t believe my truest stories could ever matter. Because of WriteGirl, I’ll know forever that they do.”
– WriteGirl Alum Sofía Aguilar
In 2021-22, WriteGirl teens published their writing in our new online journal Lines & Breaks and performed their creative work at our monthly workshops, two public readings produced by WriteGirl, and at events produced by our creative partners. Our mentees continued to show improvements in writing skills and confidence as demonstrated in pre- and post-season surveys, interviews, focus groups and meetings with teens, mentors and WriteGirl parents/families. We are excited to share the following updates about all of our programs. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about WriteGirl!
Core Mentoring Program Success:
In 2021-22, the WriteGirl Core Mentoring Program served more than 430 participants, which included teens ages 13-18 and 80 college students and recent college graduates who are program alumni. Youth served are primarily BIPOC teens, including LGBTQIA+, trans and nonbinary youth from underserved Los Angeles neighborhoods and beyond. The Core Mentoring Program includes mentoring, creative writing workshops, college entrance guidance, publications, performance opportunities, leadership development activities and career-focused workshops. Programs incorporate music, videos, games, special guests and interactive activities. Throughout the year, WriteGirl presented a total of 26 online writing, educational and career-focused workshops, each attended by an average of 150 mentees, alums and volunteers.
Since moving all programming and operations online in March 2020 in response to COVID-19, we have successfully modified and refined all aspects of our programming and operations. Our staff and volunteers have all developed new skills and we have been able to form a number of new partnerships with a variety of arts and youth-focused organizations. We have also been able to expand our programs, including our outreach and support for program alumni.
Online programming has allowed us to reach a greater number of teens throughout Los Angeles County, the country and the world, and we continue to recruit and train quality volunteer mentors, locally, regionally and nationally, who are eager to share their professional skills as writers with the teens we serve. WriteGirl anticipates that it will continue to provide the majority of programming online through at least Spring of 2023. We hope to present a hybrid of in-person and online programming when it is deemed safe to gather in large groups.
"WriteGirl's work goes beyond what you see on paper; it encourages young girls to expand their imagination as writers and as individuals.”
– Lovely Umayam, WriteGirl Alum
WriteGirl mentees, Sofia F. & Jane H. share their excitement as they open their Care Kits.
WriteGirl Creativity Care Kit Campaign:
In an effort to connect with our teens and provide creative inspiration, WriteGirl launched a new annual campaign. In the fall of 2021, we designed, created, packed and mailed a Creativity Care Kit of journals, inspirational quotes and writing activities to each WriteGirl teen.
Marie Sekiguchi received her care kit and said, “I love the stickers and knick knacks! It’s such a great idea to help keep me motivated about writing.”
One of our mentees in Kenya, Jael Kemuma Migiro, said, “I’d like to say thank you for welcoming me to the light – WriteGirl. I really appreciate you. My kit has arrived today and it’s super amazing. Thank you so much.”
Publications:
Since 2001, WriteGirl Publications has produced over 20 multi-award winning anthologies that showcase the bold voices and imaginative insights of WriteGirl teens. Unique in both design and content, WriteGirl anthologies present a wide range of personal stories, poetry, essays, scenes and lyrics.
In 2021-22, WriteGirl published more than 150 pieces of teen writing in a digital anthology and our new online publication, Lines & Breaks: A Literary Journal from WriteGirl. WriteGirl teens and alums shared their writing through an online public reading in December 2021, which included a mini writing workshop for attendees and appearances by Los Angeles Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson; journalist Beverly White (NBC4); and Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate, WriteGirl mentee Jessica Kim.
The second issue of Lines & Breaks, published in April 2022, focused on the theme of “Unity” and was published in partnership with LAvsHate, a community-wide initiative to address hate and intolerance. Ten WriteGirl teens and alums shared their published pieces during A Night of Unity, an online public reading produced by WriteGirl and featuring special guest performer, Keiko Agena.
College Access:
Since 2001, WriteGirl has maintained a 100% success rate of guiding the senior girls in our Core Mentoring Program to enroll in college. During the past year, WriteGirl presented seven workshops to help students select colleges, complete applications, write personal essays and apply for financial aid and scholarships.
Volunteers also provided individual counseling to WriteGirl teens via email, phone and online meetings. Thirty-nine WriteGirl Class of 2022 seniors were accepted to colleges including Bard College, California State University (Fullerton, Long Beach), Cal Poly Pomona, Duke University, El Camino College, Georgetown University, Loyola Marymount University, New York University, Oberlin College, Occidental College, Otis College of Art and Design, Sarah Lawrence College, University of California (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Riverside), University of Kent (Canterbury, England), University of Pennsylvania, University of San Francisco, University of Southern Mississippi, University of St. Andrews, Virginia Commonwealth University and Willamette University.
Curriculum:
In 2021-22, WriteGirl continued to create entirely new curriculum, prompts and activities for all of our workshops, ensuring that each teen participant will have a completely fresh experience at every workshop throughout her 4-5 year participation in the program. We carefully curate and share work from a diverse group of guests (including artists and writers based in the LGBTQIA+ community), including selections that deal with complex subjects such as racial and gender inequities and social justice. Curriculum is grounded in trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches, and developed collaboratively by a group of writers with varied backgrounds and experiences..
Curriculum promotes understanding by encouraging youth to share their personal challenges and successes, helping them empathize and connect with each other through the power of creative self-expression.
Summer 2022 Program Expansion:
To keep teens connected to the WriteGirl community, and offer them additional activities during the summer months when they were not in school, we expanded programming in the summer of 2022 to pilot a weekly writing series we are calling “Writing Wednesdays,” extended our Bold Leaders program through the summer, launched Ekphrastic July at LACMA, added a half-day Fiction Workshop in August, and continue to explore other program offerings. Due to its popularity, we will be continuing to offer Writing Wednesdays twice monthly through the upcoming 2022-23 season.
Alumnae Support & Success:
In 2021-22, WriteGirl presented four online career-focused workshops and provided mentoring, support and resources to help program alumni who are college students and recent college graduates achieve their educational and professional goals.
WriteGirl also provided letters of recommendation, networking opportunities and information about graduate programs, jobs and internships.
WriteGirl alums participated in our creative writing and college entrance workshops as special guest presenters and panelists, published writing in our digital publications and participated in events from partner organizations, such as the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. More than 30 alums were paired with “project” mentors who provided guidance on writing projects and career topics, and several alums worked with members of the WriteGirl Education Support Team to receive guidance in preparing applications for college scholarships and transfers.
A few WriteGirl alum highlights from recent years:
Harvard graduate and WriteGirl alum Amanda Gorman became the youngest US Inaugural Poet. In 2022, WriteGirl Alum Arielle Davis was featured in Amanda’s course on MasterClass. With Arielle as her student, Amanda shared her insights and wisdom on writing powerful poetry that can change the world.
Fahiya Rashid graduated from UC Irvine and received a Master’s in International Relations at University of Heidelberg. Fahiya was awarded a Rotary Fellowship to study Peace and Conflict at Uppsala University in Sweden.
Kai Adia and Lauren Davila teamed up to produce two Latin/Latinx anthologies through Bee Infinite Publishing, an independent publishing company co-founded by Kai.
Jamie Chen graduated from Wellesley College in 2021 with a degree in Environmental Studies and is a Program Associate at Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County, as well as a member of the editorial staff of Mag 20/20, an online publication dedicated to creatives in their twenties.
Pamela Avila graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in English Language and Literature. She is an entertainment editor at USA Today and has been published in outlets such as Los Angeles Magazine, L.A. Review of Books, HipLATINA, Shondaland and E! News. She published an article in USA Today about Variety Magazine’s Power of Women event, honoring WriteGirl alum Amanda Gorman.
Expansion (Local, National & International)
National Mentoring Matches:
Having all of our programs online has allowed us to reach more teens outside of LA. This past year we began matching girls throughout the country with their own mentor. Girls from New Mexico, Oregon and New York are working with their own one-on-one weekly online mentor.
International Mentoring Matches:
This past year, for the first time, we have matched teen girls from all over the globe with their own weekly mentor, including girls from Kenya, Poland and Uruguay. We are working through the challenging issues that international mentoring has presented, including time zones, cultural differences, governmental issues, and more. Going global requires more from our staff and organization than ever before.
Watch a video of our international mentees here: https://www.writegirl.org/donate.
Partner Programs & Teaching Artists:
WriteGirl continues to receive requests for workshops and programming at a wide variety of sites, from schools to community centers to specialized probation facilities for youth. In the 2021-22 season, WriteGirl Partner Programs served nearly 300 co-ed youth and teachers throughout the US and internationally, in addition to the 430 teens and young adults served through the WriteGirl Core Mentoring Program.
In addition to working with teen girls, we also conducted workshops for boys and co-ed groups under the name “Bold Ink Writers.”
It has been exciting for WriteGirl to increase its capacity to engage with these special opportunities through an expanded roster of trained WriteGirl Teaching Artists.
In 2022, WriteGirl recruited, trained and hired 12 Teaching Artists to support our community-based programs – 82% are BIPOC. Partner Program workshops are staffed by two Teaching Artists, with an additional staff member providing tech and hospitality support. Curriculum is customized for each site to best serve the participants.
As a founding member of the Arts for Healing and Justice Network (AHJN), WriteGirl provides fee-for-service programs in partnership with AHJN, the LA County Probation Department, the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, as well as other county departments.
WriteGirl Teaching Artists lead professional development workshops for teachers and youth leaders, sharing our methodology and curriculum and supporting a variety of other organizations in developing engaging programming for youth.
Learn more about our Teaching Artists here.
Partner Program Highlights
Creative Writing for Central Asia Teens: During the past year, WriteGirl has guided and mentored a group of young women attending an international school in Singapore, helping them establish a new creative writing organization, to provide writing workshops to teen girls in Tajikistan and across Central Asia. WriteGirl has supported them in the presentation of a series of initial workshops this spring, for 30 teen Afghan refugees residing in Tajikistan. WriteGirl staff have assisted this emerging organization with everything from establishing a name, logo and website, to creating effective operational systems, intake forms, curriculum, grant materials, teacher training, pedagogy approaches, volunteer management and more. We are thrilled to share that this new organization was recently awarded their first substantial grant from the Global Fund for Women. WriteGirl continues to mentor the team as they expand their programs.
Afghanistan letter-writing project: WriteGirl has initiated a letter-writing project in which WriteGirl teens, alums and volunteers are hand-writing personal letters to 50 high-school aged girls in Afghanistan to help uplift them during this time when Afghan teen girls cannot attend school.
Bold Ink Writers Workshops at Red Cliff: We have launched a series of twice-monthly 90-minute online creative writing workshops for co-ed youth who are members of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Tribal member and screenwriter Wenonah Wilms is participating as a special guest writer.
WriteGirl North Las Vegas: WriteGirl is partnering with Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart and T.U.L.I.P.S., a North Las Vegas nonprofit for underserved teen girls, to host a series of online and in-person creative writing workshops. The first workshop was held on May 18, 2022 and 15 girls participated.
From teen participant Za'Ni: “I loved that I felt supported in the workshop.”
From teen participant Stephanie: “I learned that I can really do whatever I put my mind to and I have people behind me to back me up.”
WriteGirl and M.E.N.T.O.R.S., Inc.: WriteGirl has launched a 12-week workshop series for underserved teen girls in South Los Angeles, in partnership with M.E.N.T.O.R.S., Inc. The series will culminate in a public reading and publication of youth writing.
Bold Ink Writers in Altadena: We have established an ongoing creative writing workshop series (twice monthly) for a small group of young teens (girls, boys and gender-expansive youth) in the Altadena, California area. The main Altadena public library is hosting the series, and several parents are helping with communications and coordinations.
WriteGirl Key Community Partnerships:
This past year we have deepened our work with many different organizations and entities throughout Los Angeles County and beyond, including the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, New York State Unified Courts, The Huntington Gardens, LACMA, Los Angeles Times (and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books), Pasadena Festival of Women Authors, and Exposition Review. In recent years we have added many new partner projects, from workshops to focus groups to web publications. We look forward to continuing these important relationships, giving our teens unique experiences where they learn, write and share their reflections and views with a wider community.
Three examples:
Natural History Museum “Becoming” Project: In January 2022, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLA) featured writing from WriteGirl teens on a wall outside of the museum in celebration of their new Becoming Jane exhibit. WriteGirl teens wrote on the theme of Becoming. Sixteen WriteGirl teens were featured on the wall and 42 were featured on the NHMLA website: https://nhm.org/reflection-becoming
The Ofrenda Community Project: WriteGirl partnered with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on a project called “Stories from the Ofrenda.” WriteGirl worked with a group of our 11th grade Bold Leaders, guiding them to complete personal stories about their culture and families. Their photos, stories and reflections are currently featured on the NHMLA website. https://nhm.org/ofrenda-community-project
In July 2022, we launched a new initiative we called “Ekphrastic July: WriteGirl at LACMA” where our teens attended the museum free of charge in July, and participated in ekphrastic (art-inspired writing) activities specifically designed in conjunction with LACMA exhibits.
Organizational Updates
Staff Development: WriteGirl’s four full-time and eight part-time staff members continued to lead day-to-day operations and play key roles in management and administration of the organization and programs. Staff and key volunteers regularly participate in leadership development and technology training webinars.
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access: In 2020, WriteGirl formed a 20-member Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) Committee to ensure that all aspects of our programming and operations align with our commitment to inclusivity and the fight against racial injustice and institutional bias. WriteGirl continues working to increase diversity throughout our organization, particularly within our staff and volunteer corps. Throughout the year, the WriteGirl IDEA Team met monthly to review and provide guidance on all aspects of the organization, from programming to strategic planning. IDEA Team leaders regularly report on progress and outcomes regarding inclusivity and accessibility to the WriteGirl board and organization leadership.
Financial Highlights: WriteGirl continued to pursue funding from individual, corporate, foundation and government sources, raising funds through a Holiday Campaign, Giving Tuesday and various events. On June 4, 2022 WriteGirl presented the 2022 WriteGirl Bold Ink Awards honoring author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale), journalist Beverly White (NBC4), screenwriter Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends), and screenwriter Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and featuring guest speaker and WriteGirl alum Amanda Gorman. Additionally, WriteGirl continued to enhance its fee-for-service/contracted programming, including both programming for youth who are incarcerated and systems-involved, as well as “train-the”trainer” professional development programming for adults. Each season, WriteGirl receives significant in-kind donations of materials, printing, website management and professional services from our members and the community.
Board Activity: In 2021-22, the 7-member WriteGirl Core Board met seven times. We are working to expand our board and have added two new members to our 18-member Advisory Board. One hundred percent of our Core Board Members made financial contributions during the past year, and several board members were instrumental in helping WriteGirl obtain corporate grants.
Evaluation and Outcomes:
WriteGirl has continued to maintain its 100% college success rate and WriteGirl alums continue to share the lasting impact of our programming as they complete college and enter the workforce with careers in education, healthcare, law, social services, media and the arts. In 2021-22, WriteGirl teens continued to show significant improvements in writing skills and confidence as demonstrated in pre- and post-season surveys with our teens as well as interviews, periodic focus groups and meetings with mentors and WriteGirl parents/families.
We conclude each WriteGirl event, meeting and workshop by asking participants to share something they liked, learned or loved. Recent responses include:
“I’d never shared any of my poetry before today, but hearing the encouragement from my mentor was really special!” – Jace C., Mentee, Poetry Workshop
“I loved the collaboration and energy between everyone here. Such a beautiful atmosphere.” – Sofia F., Mentee, Songwriting Workshop
“Seeing panelists that look like me today is very powerful!!” – Amelia P., Mentee, Journalism Workshop
“I learned to create my own power statement I can use to the world.” – Sidny R., Mentee, Creative Nonfiction Workshop
Awards: Throughout the year, WriteGirl mentors and staff helped youth prepare their writing for publication in various outlets and presentations at online and in-person partner events, book festivals and civic events.
WriteGirl mentees currently being recognized include the 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate Runner-Up, the 2022 Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate Runner-Up and seven finalists, the 2021 Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate and 12 finalists, and five 2022 recipients of Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Media coverage: WriteGirl has appeared in media outlets that include Vogue, CNN, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, USA Today, US Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Street Insider, The Wall Street Journal, ABC, KCBS, Black Enterprise, Los Angeles Daily News, Leading Literacy (Los Angeles County Office of Education podcast), Teen Vogue, Biography.com/Amanda Gorman, LAist, and the Vancouver Sun.
In 2021, WriteGirl alum Khaila Amazan and her mentor DaVida Smith were also featured in a sponsored content article in the New York Times. Recently, Amanda Gorman mentioned WriteGirl’s impact on her work in interviews for Vogue magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.
Future Programming:
We have learned a great deal through our growth. We have discovered how valuable it is to have strong collaborative partners in the communities we serve to have a truly meaningful impact. We have seen how one-on-one mentoring with a trained WriteGirl mentor can empower a teen to develop her creative confidence, even if her timezone does not allow her to attend our workshops.
We plan to build on some of the national and international pilot programs we launched this past year as we continue to expand the WriteGirl community.
Participating teens across the globe have told us how important this program has been for them, and we are lifted by their feedback:
Daisy, age 17, from Nigeria: “I have been participating in WriteGirl from Lagos, Nigeria for about a year now. And honestly, it is one of the best experiences I've ever had in my whole life.”
Jael, age 22, from Kenya: “What I enjoy about the WriteGirl team is that we have the best mentors across the globe…They really made me who I am today. I really appreciate them.”
Sriya, age 16, from the United Arab Emirates: “I love how WriteGirl gives everyone the opportunity, the freedom and the artistic license to express themselves completely through their writing.”
As We Look Ahead:
We’re excited to be able to share some of these highlights of the past season of WriteGirl. We are thrilled about our recent accomplishments, our growth and the work we are doing with youth around the world.
WriteGirl is poised for even more growth, and we hope to find future partnerships to expand our programming to serve even more teens in need of mentoring and self-empowerment. We look forward to our future impact as WriteGirl continues to help girls and gender-expansive youth write their way to brilliant futures!
