Mission & Vision 

WriteGirl’s mission is to promote creativity and self-expression to empower girls and gender-expansive youth, within a community of writers. 

Founded in 2001, WriteGirl is a nationally recognized creative writing and mentoring organization serving more than 700 teens and young adults annually—mainly from LA’s high-density neighborhoods but increasingly from across the nation and the world. While most of our online programming will continue to accommodate our growing global membership, we are especially committed to offering local, in-person programming for our teens and volunteers in the Greater Los Angeles area.

WriteGirl members identify as woman, girl, gender-expansive, trans, nonbinary, or femme; no matter where you are on your journey of personal identity, you’re welcome here.

WriteGirl envisions a world where teens live, write, and speak boldly as they effect positive change in their communities as inspiring, transformative leaders.

WriteGirl mentors and teens sitting on a wall with their journals, with palm trees behind them

Two teens smiling while writing in their journals at a bookstore
A mentor and teen holding their journals and smiling and talking.
A WriteGirl alum speaks at a microphone in front of a screen with a list of colleges
A teen holds a WriteGirl book at a podium and smiles as she reads her writing from the book.
Two teen girls sitting at a table in a classroom smile at the camera, with their journals sitting on the table.

Overview of Programs

Core Mentoring Program:

Open to all teen girls and gender-expansive teens. Volunteers are women/gender-expansive writers. Join us from anywhere in the world!

Monthly Writing Workshops

WriteGirl teens and mentors gather one Saturday a month during the school year, for online creative writing workshops focusing on specific genres including poetry, screenwriting, journalism, songwriting and more. Twice a month, teens and mentors also gather for shorter “Writing Wednesday” Workshops. Workshops include special guests, interactive activities and one-on-one mentoring. Workshops are offered online for all members and in-person for our LA members.

Mentoring

WriteGirl matches and supports more than 100 mentee/mentor pairs each season to provide one-on-one support, guidance and encouragement to help teens discover and develop their creative voice. WriteGirl mentors are writing professionals working in a wide range of careers, who complete in-depth screening and training in order to be highly effective mentors to our teens. We offer short-term project mentoring and long-term weekly mentoring. Mentoring is online or in-person, depending on location.

Bold Leaders 

The WriteGirl Bold Leaders Program is a leadership development program for 10th, 11th and 12th grade WriteGirl teens. We created the program in 2019 when one of our girls said, “Everyone says we should be leaders, but nobody tells us how to become leaders.”

At monthly Bold Leader gatherings, WriteGirl mentors lead activities and discussions centered on leadership skills such as managing teams, public speaking, business writing, networking, time management and interpersonal communications, among other topics.

College Access Program

The WriteGirl College Access Program provides intensive, individualized college entrance guidance for participants and prepares teens for life beyond high school through internships, career awareness activities and a growing alumni support network. WriteGirl has maintained a 100% college enrollment rate for all Core Mentoring Program participants.

Publications

WriteGirl has published 15 award-winning anthologies that showcase the work of WriteGirl members. WriteGirl also features writing from teens in its award-winning online literary journal Lines & Breaks.

Public Readings

WriteGirl teens read their creative writing at public readings, book festivals, writing conferences and an end-of-season event for members, parents and guests.

Partner Programs:

Programming for schools, community groups and juvenile detention facilities

WriteGirl has presented hundreds of workshops at schools and community centers through fee-for-service partnerships that allow us to reach some of the community’s most critically at-risk youth. WriteGirl Teaching Artists inspire youth to develop creativity, communication skills, confidence and emotional well-being. Click here to learn more about our Partner Programs.

Teacher Training:

Professional development training for schools and districts

WriteGirl offers professional development workshops for teachers, youth leaders, and others working in the youth development sphere to share our philosophy, activities, and approaches to creative writing education. These train-the-trainer workshops help give teachers and youth leaders fresh creative writing activities and ways to adapt them for various age groups. Click here to learn more about our teacher trainings.

Why We Do It 

A Need for One-On-One Guidance

Many of our teens attend schools with over 3,000 students. The student-to-counselor ratio in California of 464:1 is one of the worst in the country. We know they aren't getting the individual help they need. Some of our teens face tremendous challenges including abuse, neglect, depression and much more. A caring role model can change their lives and indeed has changed many lives.

A Need for Equity for Girls

Young girls are incredibly vulnerable – in Los Angeles, in the U.S., and in the world. WriteGirl empowers young girls in a time of their lives when many of them feel like they have no power. For many of our teens, WriteGirl becomes a refuge free from anxieties and judgment, a safe space where they can feel empowered among a community of bright, caring mentors. There is much work to do in order to achieve equity for women and girls. 

A Sense of Belonging for Gender-Expansive Youth 

The WriteGirl community also serves nonbinary, trans, gender-expansive and gender-nonconforming youth, who face immense challenges in their daily lives. WriteGirl provides LGBTQIA+ teens with a supportive community with other LGBTQIA+ teens and volunteers where they can feel a sense of belonging.

WriteGirl provides a counterbalance to the enormous challenges teen girls and gender-expansive youth face. We strive to provide every teen with a mentor who can help them ultimately discover their own voice and aspirations and set them on a path to a fulfilling career.

Why Writing? 

WriteGirl is first and foremost a creative writing organization. We use mentoring as the vehicle for teens to develop their creative writing skills. We know the therapeutic value of writing, but our focus is on developing creative writing skills above all else. Through the process of writing, teens organically develop confidence, self-esteem and clarity about themselves and their future. At WriteGirl, teens use writing as a transformative tool to discover and raise their voices. Through writing, a girl learns that her ideas matter, in her family, in the community, and in the world. WriteGirl workshops are designed to be “literacy in disguise:” We strive to help our teens become focused, motivated and confident enough to share their voice with an audience. Teens gain writing and communication skills that help them thrive in any career path.

A teen wearing a tie-died sweatshirt smiles as a mentor discusses their writing
A large group of more than 150 WriteGirl teens and volunteers pose for a group photo.
Teens sit at a table writing in their journals with printed photos scattered on the table.
A teen in the foreground and mentor in the background are focused as they write in their journals
Six WriteGirl volunteers pose in front of a WriteGirl step and repeat at a fundraiser for WriteGirl
A row of singer-songwriters holding guitars sit on stage while one performs a song
Two teens sitting on cushions on the floor in front of a southwest painted wall at The Autry museum.

How We Do It

Volunteers

Nearly 400 poets, novelists, journalists, screenwriters, songwriters, and more volunteer their time to help WriteGirl teens develop a creative voice and confidence. All WriteGirl volunteers complete an application, submit writing samples, complete two days of intensive training, a post-training interview and a mandatory background check before they begin working with WriteGirl teens. Volunteers work one-on-one with teens as writing mentors, and many help behind-the-scenes with workshops, fundraising and more. We couldn’t do it without our volunteers! Click here to learn more about volunteering with WriteGirl.

Special Guests

Special guest writers are invited to participate at WriteGirl workshops and events, to share their writing, their inspiration and career path. We are always aiming to feature guests (predominantly women/gender-expansive writers) that represent the diversity of our community. Song lyrics written by our teens have been performed on the spot by special guest singer/songwriters. Past Special Guests include:

  • Actors Reese Witherspoon, Gina Torres (Suits), Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Keiko Agena (Gilmore Girls), Seth Rogen (Superbad), and Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do with It, Waiting to Exhale)

  • Songwriters MILCK, Priscilla Renea, Lisa Loeb, Janice Robinson and Josh Groban

  • Authors Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me) and Janet Fitch (White Oleander)

  • Writers/Directors such as Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King) and Joey Soloway (Transparent)

  • Screenwriters such as Erika Green Swafford (How to Get Away With Murder) and Liz Meriwether (New Girl)

Partnerships:

WriteGirl partners with cultural institutions like the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to introduce WriteGirl teens to the rich art and cultural experiences Los Angeles has to offer. WriteGirl participates as a community partner in events such as the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and the Pasadena Festival of Women Authors to give our teens and alums opportunities to perform their work on a public stage and get inspired hearing from other writers in the community. 

WriteGirl Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Committee:

In 2020 several WriteGirl volunteers worked with the WriteGirl staff to create the IDEA committee. This Steering Committee collaborated with the staff to create an Action Plan to immediately address areas in need of attention related to inclusivity, diversity, equity and access. The committee continues to meet regularly and we have continued to use an IDEA lens to examine all aspects of the organization and integrate that approach into our work.

Supporters:

WriteGirl is grateful to the hundreds of individuals, foundations and corporations for providing WriteGirl with the financial support we need to keep our programs running strong. 

Hundreds of companies also provide in-kind materials for WriteGirl such as journals, pens, gifts for our girls and volunteers, silent auction items, catering and much more! 

Learn more about our supporters here.

History: Some Highlights 

  • WriteGirl was launched in December 2001.

  • WriteGirl began with 30 writers and 30 teen girls. The first few years of workshops were held at the Bresee Community Center in Koreatown.

  • WriteGirl has grown exponentially every year in terms of membership and support.

  • Thousands of teens have participated in WriteGirl.

  • Currently, more than 400 writers and other professionals actively volunteer in support of WriteGirl.

  • Each year, WriteGirl partners with hundreds of local writers, artists, musicians and performers to help maximize the impact of our work. 

  • In 2013, WriteGirl received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, presented by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. WriteGirl has continued the relationship by partnering with the Obama Foundation to produce workshops for young community leaders throughout the country in 2018.

  • WriteGirl receives funding from individuals, corporations, government sources and foundations, and continues to raise funds year-round through grants, campaigns and special events. Dozens of companies donate in-kind goods and services such as journals and gifts.

  • WriteGirl partners with leading civic, cultural and arts organizations to host creative writing workshops, including The Huntington, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, The Autry, LACMA, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Otis College of Art & Design, the Japanese American National Museum and MOCA. 

  • Ever since one of our teens said, “My high school counselor told me I’m not college material,” nearly 20 years ago, WriteGirl has worked to help low-income students break down barriers to higher education, providing in-depth college entrance counseling at no cost to participants. 

  • In 2020, WriteGirl published its 35th anthology of youth writing and received its 96th book award, including seven for This Moment: Bold Voices from WriteGirl. 

Black and white photo of a group of teens and volunteers waving their hands in the air in front of a white brick wall.
First Lady Michelle Obama stands with a WriteGirl teen and WriteGirl Executive Director Keren Taylor in front of a gold curtain and an American flag at the White House.
A teen stands at a microphone smiling and holding a book open while looking at the audience
Keren Taylor stands centered holding a microphone and smiling at the camera with a theater audience behind her

Message from Keren Taylor, Executive Director

Writers often say to me, “I wish there was WriteGirl when I was a teenager!” And I share their sentiment. Having a place where you are encouraged to express your emotions and ideas is important at any time in your life, but somehow particularly vital as a teenager, and still (yes, still) especially vital for women. 

Here in the world of WriteGirl, we are all about giving girls, women and gender-expansive writers the space, time and permission to speak up, speak out, write it down and let their unique voices loose. Some of our teens may go on to pursue careers as writers, but all will have valuable communication skills to help them no matter what they decide to do in their lives. 

It is exciting to see writers develop friendships, make professional connections and help each other through involvement in WriteGirl. Personally, I am constantly surprised, challenged and inspired. As one young girl wrote to me, “WriteGirl should be everywhere, for all.” And I agree. We’re working on it. Help us make that happen!

Warmly,

Keren Taylor
Executive Director and Founder of WriteGirl