Girls Write Now Collaboratory

Journeys

Each Journey in the Girls Write Now Collaboratory is a package of Writing Course Content, Mentorship, and Community Experiences for mentors and mentees. Our team of teachers, artists, and content experts have thoughtfully curated each Journey to be a dynamic, multifaceted experience. Journeys can be light touch or intensive, short or long-term, asynchronous or in real time.

What Does a Journey Look Like?

3 Hours per Month for 3 Months! Open to Mentors & Mentees of All Backgrounds and Levels of Experience.

  • Journeys are 3 month cycles: Cycles are: Spring: March 1 – May 31; Summer: July 1  -September 30; Fall: November 1-January  31
  • Each Journey is 3 months long, requiring approximately 3 hours per month.
  • Journeys include one-to-one, cross-generational mentorship and collaboration (1-2 sessions per month)
  • Plus live community workshops, salons, or chats, virtual or in-person (at least 1 per month)
  • Pair and group experiences are bolstered by a dynamic curriculum covering a diverse range of genres, media, and topics.
  • Each Journey is a 3-month arc with a meaningful, creative outcome that meets your unique goals.
Journey Mentor (1)

Journey Mentors

Girls Write Now mentors are professionals, typically ages 25 and up, from all fields and disciplines, and from around the nation. They work with curiosity and collaboration, learning and growing, while supporting their mentees’ writing and leadership needs and goals.
Journey Mentor

Journey Mentees

Girls Write Now mentees are writers and leaders, typically ages of 14-24, from around the nation. Through a lens of creativity and activism, mentees produce stories, podcasts, poems, films, and more with the support of a mentor and the Girls Write Now community.

Journey Cycles

A Journey cycle is a three-month time period. Every month for three months of the Journey, mentors and mentees spend three hours or more together in pair sessions and community experiences, bolstered by our dynamic curriculum. You can sign up for one, two, or three cycles to meet your schedule and goals.

  • Summer: July 1 – September 30
  • Fall: November 1 – January 31
  • Spring: March 1 – May 31
Cycles

Select the Journey you want to go on this cycle! You can refine your search using the filters on the lefthand sidebar. Once you're accepted, you'll be matched with a mentor or mentee who shares your interests.

Select the Journey you want to go on this cycle! You can refine your search using the filters on the lefthand sidebar. Once you're accepted, you'll be matched with a mentor or mentee who shares your interests.

Investigative Podcasts (Fall 2024-Spring 2025)

In this journey, you’ll collaborate as a production team to produce a podcast series about the Cop City project that includes research, pitching episodes, outlining episodes, hosting the podcast, and editing. We’ll try to understand why these cop cities are popping up, why people are resisting their construction, and different ideas around what makes a community “safe.” Great for mentees who are interested in social justice, journalism, and podcasting.

Investigative Podcasts Journey

The Power of Punchlines: Stand-Up Comedy for Change (Spring-Summer 2025)

In this 2-cycle journey, participants will explore the power of comedy as a tool for social change, with a special focus on stand-up comedy. From climate change and economic inequality to LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, and mental health, you'll learn how to write and perform material that blends humor with meaningful social critique. Through workshops and performance coaching, you’ll develop your own comedic voice. Discover how satire and personal storytelling can raise awareness, inspire dialogue, and challenge the status quo— all while keeping your audience laughing. By the end of the journey, you'll have developed a 5 -10-minute stand-up routine that not only entertains but sparks meaningful conversations about the world around us. Comedy is a form of intelligence, whether you’re new to comedy or a seasoned performer, this journey will help you use humor as a force for social impact.

The-Power-of-Punchlines

Careers for Creatives: Unexpected Opportunities (Spring 2025)

The Careers for Creatives: Unexpected Opportunities Journey is perfect for mentees and mentors who are looking to turn their passion for storytelling, content creation, or journalism into a career. Through a dynamic online course, mentoring sessions, and live networking events, you will explore various career paths available to writers today, learn practical skills to help you succeed, and discover how to build a sustainable career that aligns with your interests and strengths. Discover career paths in finance, technology, corporate communications, publishing and more!

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Collaboratory Access for Mentors, Mentees & Members

Enjoy a la carte or as part of a Journey

All mentors, mentees & members also have access to our Resources, including jobs, internships, scholarships, writing contests, enrichment opportunities, and more.

Writing

Writing

Build skills though courses that focus on any genre, media, leadership, activism, college, career, and more.

Mentoring

Connect one-to-one across generations and establish a supportive relationship that lasts a lifetime.

Community

Collaborate and share with other inspiring minds at countless engaging events and experiences.

Join Our Community

“I’m from the place of oodles The place of Skelly courts and handball Basketball sounds are my alarm clock The police are the snooze button RnB rap reggae and soca dress me in the morning. Manhattan skylines are out my window— Close as if I can touch them in the morning as the sun rises over the buildings. Walking into the kitchen, I see walls that reflect every house in the building I smell bacon emerging from the microwave, as I look into the home of Kool-Aid I enter the living room of generations to blast the same song that echoes through everyone’s ears in every house I walk back into my kitchen and look back in my fridge as if hoping to see something new.”
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Samantha White  Mentee
“I was exposed to a lot of new genres through Explore Tour, and I loved having the freedom to move between topics, whether it was Graphic Design or Horror Writing. I had a lot of fun participating in Community Studios, especially Writing for Change. I learned interviewing techniques and how to reach out and incorporate interview information into my stories.”
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Anila Ray Mentee
“[Explore Tour] inspired me to get back into writing more and to explore writing styles that I’d shied away from in the past.”
Veronica Mollod
Veronica Mollod Mentee
“[I got] to learn new skills and creative mediums. I was able to improve my skills in audio editing (podcast course)”
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Natalia Villegas Mentee
“I really enjoyed being able to read some great books and watch some cool performances.”
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Alejandre Lamas-Nemec Mentee

Journey Mentorship

Make a commitment as a mentor or mentee for at least one Journey and get full access to our writing, mentoring, and community experiences and resources.

Membership

Be a part of our community without committing to a Journey, and receive select access to our writing, mentoring, and community experiences and resources.