About Girls Write Now

Leadership & Supporters

From our incredible staff to our powerhouse board of directors, to the countless individuals and institutions that fuel our mission, thank you.

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Board of Directors

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Honorary Board

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I.V. Tech Committee

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I.V. Edit Print Anthology Committee
Soyolmaa Lkhagvadorj
Mentor

Soyolmaa Lkhagvadorj

Soyolmaa Lkhagvadorj is an Associate Editor at Abrams Books acquiring illustrated and narrative non-fiction titles. She is especially interested in books highlighting marginalized voices and stories across a wide variety of subjects including lifestyle, pop culture, self-care and wellness, self-help, memoir, and more. She’s currently a Girls Write Now and POC in Pub mentor. Originally from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, she now resides in Brooklyn.

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Molly MacDermot, Director of Special Initiatives
Girls Write Now Staff

Molly MacDermot

Director of Special Initiatives

Molly is proud to call Girls Write Now her professional home for the last 10 years, leading partnerships, editing the annual anthology, and learning something new every single day from a talented community of writers. In high school, Molly won an emerging journalist award from her local newspaper, which meant receiving a hardcover, dictionary-thesaurus combo that she cherished, spending the rest of her teen years looking up words. Molly studied English and Journalism at Boston University, and wrote for the daily newspaper. One of her first internships in college was at WBAI Radio, obtained by walking into the office and asking if she could intern. Thankfully, they said yes. She has added commas to stories while at The New Yorker, worked in features at Marie Claire and Redbook, and ran teen magazines during the Destiny’s Child days. Girls Write Now is a bright spot for so many and Molly is honored to be a part of the team.

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Alum Mentor

Colleen Markley

Colleen Markley has been published in multiple anthologies and magazines, including Sisters! Bonded by Love and Laughter, Grown & Flown, Ignatian Literary Magazine, Apricity Magazine, The Writing Cooperative, and Soundings East. Colleen was awarded the Nickie’s Prize for Humor Writing and was the June 2021 winner of the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop Humor Writer of the Month. She earned a degree in film and television from Boston University with a focus on screenwriting. Colleen spent twenty years working in the nonprofit sector, starting with Channel Thirteen/WNET (New York Public Television), and is now a writing instructor and nonprofit consultant. www.colleenmarkley.com.

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Deenie Matthews

Nadine Matthews

Nadine Matthews is a freelance writer specializing in the intersection of diversity with arts, culture and society.

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Kenna McCafferty Headshot
Girls Write Now Staff

Kenna McCafferty

Community Coordinator

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.

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Guest/Teaching Artist

Carol Paik

Carol Paik is a writer and textile artist living in NYC and Pound Ridge, NY. She was a GWN mentor, and is pleased and proud to report that her mentee, Shania Russell, is now a Staff Writer for Entertainment Weekly. Carol has also served on the editorial committee for the Girls Write Now Anthology for many years.

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Lisbett Rodriguez
Girls Write Now Staff

Lisbett Rodriguez

Senior Salesforce & Systems Administrator

Lisbett Rodriguez (she/her) is a Dominican-American lifelong learner bringing her love of stories, community and service-oriented work. She was previously a Girls Write Now mentee and graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Arts in English. As an undergraduate student, she contributed to producing two publications of the Brooklyn College literary magazine, The Junction which provided her with the tools to support in producing the annual Girls Write Now anthology for three years and counting. In August 2022, she became a Salesforce Certified Administrator after developing a strong interest for systems and databases. She’s passionate about work that centers and uplifts women and gender-expansive folx and has previously worked with two women’s organizations, Legal Momentum and the Brooklyn College Women’s Center. In her free time, she enjoys watching feel-good shows, spending time with friends and playing video games.

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Alum Mentor

Patricia Rossi

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Alum Mentor

Anne Sanderson

Anne Sanderson is the Founder and Principal of Narrative Impact, a strategic communications consultancy helping mission-driven organizations expand audiences, deepen engagement, and drive meaningful change. She develops communication strategies that align with organizational goals and inspire action, specializing in audience growth, stakeholder engagement, fundraising strategy, and leadership development. As Vice President of Strategic Communications at The New York Women’s Foundation, Anne led media relations, donor engagement, and external communications, helping secure multi-year funding and elevate the Foundation’s national profile through strategic storytelling and public events. A mission-driven executive with deep expertise in education equity and arts-driven cultural impact, Anne brings a multidisciplinary perspective rooted in visual direction, curation, and storytelling. She also serves as an editorial advisor on Girls Write Now’s Anthology and continues to mentor emerging writers, advancing youth voices and creative expression.

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Mara Santilli
Mentor

Mara Santilli

Mara Santilli is a freelance writer and editor specializing in wellness, culture, social issues and the intersection between them, whose print and digital work has appeared in Marie Claire, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, InStyle and Well+Good. She’s a Fordham University graduate who also has a degree in Italian Studies, so naturally she’s always daydreaming about focaccia.

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Marisa Siegel Author Photo
Mentor

Marisa Siegel

Marisa Siegel is the author of the chapbook FIXED STARS (Burrow Press, 2022) and her essay “Inherited Anger” appears in the acclaimed anthology BURN IT DOWN (Seal Press, 2019). She is senior acquiring editor for trade at Northwestern University Press, and was formerly owner, publisher, and editor-in-chief of the online literary magazine THE RUMPUS. Find her online at marisasiegel.com.

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Erica Silberman
Girls Write Now Staff

Erica Silberman

Director of Engagement & Partnerships

Erica Silberman fell in love with Girls Write Now when she group-taught a playwriting workshop for them in 2005. Through the years, she has stayed involved with the organization as a mentor, a teacher in various outreach programs, and a member of both the Program Advisory Committee and the Host Committee. Erica has an extensive and wide-ranging background in the theatre as an actress, playwright, director, teacher, acting coach, and producer, as well as experience in the design world. She formerly served as co-president of the Women in the Arts and Media Coalition and on the board of the League of Professional Theatre Women. Erica is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Dramatic Question Theatre, where she runs a monthly literary and music salon.

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Alum Mentor

Madeline Stone

I am a correspondent at Insider, where I write about business with a focus on e-commerce and retail. I previously edited stories about retail for Insider. Before pursuing a career in journalism, I studied American Studies and Spanish at the University of Notre Dame.

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Alum Mentor

Maryellen Tighe

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Alum Mentee

Emily Toliver

Emily Toliver is currently a student studying Literary Studies at The New School with a passion for all forms of storytelling.

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Kiki Tom
Mentor

Kiki Tom

Kiki T. is a writer, columnist and author that is born and bred in NYC. Driven by curiosity, Kiki has written about every subject under the sun, including: fashion, movies, music, art, history, etc. However, her claim to fame comes from editing a website for teen girls (Planet Kiki—a SXSW Winner!) and astrology—the basis of her two books: Angst: Teen Verses From The Edge and The Celestial Sexpot’s Handbook. Kiki’s resume also includes columns and articles for: Teen Vogue, NY Post Page Six Magazine, JANE, Girlfriend (Australian Teen Mag), Scarlet UK, Lifetimetv, TheFrisky.com, Astrology.com, etc. Media appearances include webseries LookTV.com and LifetimeTV.com and appearances on Tyra, Mike and Juliet show & NBC’s The Daily Connection.

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I.V. Teach Committee

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Girls Write Now Ambassadors

Championing Our Mission

Girls Write Now Ambassadors are individual donors advancing our mission through an annual commitment of $1,000 or more, and receive exclusive benefits and access in return.
October 2018 Awards

The Girls Write Now Ambassadors

Founders | $250K+

Maja Kristin

Leaders | $50K+

Ellen Archer & Jeffrey Gracer
Kate Stroup & Matthew Berger


Innovators | $25K+

Ann & Bob Hammer
Suleika Jaouad & The Alchemy Fund
Jane Lauder
Raymond & Gloria Naftali Foundation
Maya Nussbaum & Todd Pulerwitz

Champions | $10K+

Judith Curr & Ken Kennedy
Harmon Foundation, Inc.
Amy & James Ramsey
James M. & Margaret V. Stine Foundation
Mustafa Topiwalla
Brent and Ann Wilson Family Foundation

Supporters | $5K+

Anonymous
Berger Family Foundation
Karina Eileraas Karakus
Lynda Pak
Alina Roytberg
Susan & Sophie Sawyers


Vice Chairs | $2.5K+

Cate Ambrose
Rachel Bloom
Gati Curtis
Catherine Greenman & Richard D’Albert

Winnie Holzman
Stephanie Gordon
Bruce Morrow
Elaine Stuart-Shah & Nirav Shah


Patrons | $1K+

Marci Alboher & Jay Goldberg
Maria Aspan
Maryam Banikarim and Andrew Lerner
Chitra Bopardikar
Jill Cohen
Rachel Cohen
Cohn Giving Fund
Rose Else-Mitchell
Anne B. Fritz & Libbie Thacker
Ciaran Gaffney
Suzanne and Robert Koroshetz
Meg LaBorde Kuehn

Robert Levin
Eric Ma
Alicia Menendez
Janet McKenzie
Micah Nussbaum
Casey Pugh
Todd Thorpe
Brad Tuthill
Elissa Weinstein
Lisa & Frank Wohl
Jon Yaged

Girls Write Now Partners

Gamechangers | $100K+

Estée Lauder Companies
Estée Lauder Companies
RBC Foundation
RBC Foundation
HarperCollins
HarperCollins
News Corp
News Corp
Hearst Foundation logo
Hearst Foundation

Innovators | $25K+

The Dream Gap Project Barbie
Barbie The Dream Gap Project
Macmillan
Macmillan
Comcast NBCUniversal
Comcast NBCUniversal
Raymond James logo
Raymond James

Champions | $10K+

Adobe
Adobe
Maje logo
Maje
red helicopter logo
red helicopter
Amazon Literary Partnership
Amazon Literary Partnership
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House
Wicked on Broadway logo
Wicked on Broadway
Kyndryl logo
Kyndryl
People Inc Logo
People Inc

Creators | $5K+

Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Moleskine Foundation logo
Moleskine Foundation’s Creativity Pioneers Fund
GFP Real Estate
GFP Real Estate
Yen Press Logo
Yen Press
Mischief Logo
Mischief

Supporters | $2.5K+

The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press

Foundation & Government

$100K+

 New York City Council STARS CityWide Girls Initiative
New York State Council on the Arts
The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation
Pinkerton Foundation


$25K+

Harman Family Foundation
Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
The Raymond and Gloria Naftali Foundation
The Rona Jaffe Foundation


$2.5K+

Berger Family Foundation
The Goldsmith Family Foundation
The Hopeful Theatre Project
Laura B. Vogler Foundation

$50K+

Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund
Chasing Spirits
Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Office of Faith and Nonprofit Development Services


$10K+

Find Your Light Foundation
The Hyde & Watson Foundation
The Keith Haring Foundation
The National Book Foundation