in-person event; open to mentees, mentors, alum & the public
Conceived and produced by Lead 360 mentee Sophia One, the One Letter 4 All initiative focuses on providing loving messages to people dealing with loneliness and isolation.
Join us at the series kickoff, an inspiring afternoon of creative social activism at the home of Girls Write Now. We will write compassionate letters to Asian American elders from systemically under-resourced neighborhoods, and youth from a detention center in Birmingham, Alabama—connecting them all with the voices of the Girls Write Now community.
In June, we will support two impactful organizations. Hearts of Dinner addresses food insecurity and social isolation among Asian American seniors by delivering meals paired with handwritten and illustrated letters. Radical Reversal provides music performance and recording spaces for incarcerated individuals and fosters mentorship through music, emphasizing the liberating power of writing, reading, and music, which have a long and impactful legacy within prison systems as a means of connection to the outside world.
At this special event, we’ll blend creativity with purpose as we learn about and contribute to these vital initiatives. This workshop is perfect for writers and artists who enjoy making a positive impact through human connection. No knowledge of an Asian language is required to participate. High school students will be able to receive community service credit. There will be snacks and give aways! Open to the public—everyone is welcome!
This event is featured by Lead360
Sophia One is a NYC high school student from the Bronx High School of Science who is also a Girls Write Now mentee and a member of GWN’s Lead Incubator. She is involved in many extracurriculars related to environmentalism, such as conducting social science research on climate policies, promoting climate action in government, and leading the Green Team at her school. Her other activities include volunteering at her local Queens Public Library, running an online vintage business, and participating in the National Honor Society. Sophia also has a strong interest in media studies and journalism, of which she hopes to continue in college. Besides her academic life, Sophia enjoys traveling the world, building legos, and watching Formula One races (a huge Ferrari fan!).
Kenna McCafferty’s writing journey began at home. With her mom as her elementary school librarian, she was quickly introduced to the world of reading and writing. Spending her early childhood in Vienna, Austria, she learned to use writing as a powerful tool of exchange and self discovery. She has since earned a BA in Modern Political Messaging, a major of her own design, from Emerson College. During her time at Emerson she worked with youth development organizations like YouthxLead Sharon and 826 Boston to empower students to find their creative voice. In PR, she worked with mission-driven organizations to communicate around events, initiatives and institutional messaging with a concentration in non-profits, and universities. Her journalistic work has appeared in places like office magazine, PAPER magazine, Alternative Press, The Creative Independent, Dazed, LUNA Collective and more. She has interviewed everyone from Arlo Parks to Coco & Clair Clair, with a special knack for catching on to emerging artists before they make it big. A voracious listener, she continues to conduct interviews and report around music, and is in the process of developing a music blog to catalogue and share her listening journey.
all mentees, all mentors, program alum and the public