A Word Becomes a World
Honoring Changemakers
Liate Stehlik & Randee St. Nicholas
To understand Girls Write Now, zoom out and watch a complex, multi-dimensional organism, constantly and consciously in the making. Its contours keep shifting—a community reaching across gender, race, class, and age; a body of work that bends between genres, media, and disciplines; a nonprofit, but also an incubator of art, a developer of professions, a force that heals. Rooted in New York City with an ecosystem branching statewide, around the nation, and the globe. For Girls Write Now, metamorphosis is a state of being.
Come in close, though, and you realize it all starts with something small. They call it the butterfly effect—a single word, one act of kindness, in the right conditions, travels further than anyone can predict. A word evolves into a story, a byline, a career, a life a family didn’t think was available to them—a community transformed.This October, we honor two changemakers embodying the Girls Write Now mission on all scales.
Liate Stehlik, who leads publishing at the highest levels, has shaped what the world reads; the iconic photographer Randee St. Nicholas has been our guide to what the world sees. Both capture culture as it unfolds, opening minds in unexpected ways—betting on raw talent. The Girls Write Now Awards is our largest fundraiser, and at this year’s event, we’re asking you to do the same. For more information about purchasing seats and tables, contact Molly MacDermot at mmacdermot@girlswritenow.org.
Girls Write Now Honoree
Liate Stehlik
CEO and Publisher, US Trade, HarperCollins
Liate Stehlik is CEO and Publisher, US Trade, overseeing the adult and children’s trade publishing divisions and sales in the US. Stehlik joined HarperCollins in 2005 as Publisher of Avon Books. In 2018, she was appointed President and Publisher of the Morrow Group, and her purview expanded to HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2023. During her time with the company, she has overseen the publication of hundreds of bestselling fiction authors and series including some of HarperCollins’s largest global franchises, such as Narnia, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Agatha Christie.
Girls Write Now Honoree
Randee St. Nicholas
Photographer & Director
Randee St. Nicholas is a celebrated photographer and director based in Los Angeles, California. She is known worldwide for her work with the icons of music, television, and film. Randee is represented by the Fahey Klein Gallery which is one of the most prestigious photo galleries in the world. She received an Honorary Doctorate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco 2024 for her achievements in photography and directing.
Words From Our Honorees
