Girls Write Now Partners with Storyshares for Multicultural Storytelling

Through the Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures Journey, Participants Bring a Diversity of Voices to the Page

Girls Write Now is proud to partner with fellow nonprofits and community-based organizations to advance our mission of uplifting marginalized voices and breaking down barriers of age, race, and poverty to mentor and train the next generation. We’ve been thrilled to forge a strong partnership with Storyshares, an organization focused on improving literacy rates across generations.

“At Storyshares, we believe that writing powerful stories is essential to closing the literacy gap for millions of underserved and overlooked readers.Our partnership with Girls Write Now is such a perfect fit, enabling us to curate engaging and representative content for multilingual learners,” Shira Engel, Chief Academic Officer at Storyshares said. Engel was a mentee at Girls Write Now from 2006 to 2010, and has come back as a teaching artist for this partnership.

For Girls Write Now’s Fall 2025 Cycle, we partnered with Storyshares to create the Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures Journey. This Journey invites multilingual storytellers—and those curious about language, identity, and culture—to explore how the languages we speak and the communities we come from shape our stories. Through writing, discussion, and creative expression, participants examine the connections between language, culture, and self.

Led by Girls Write Now Community Coordinator, Sally Familia, mentors and mentees in this Journey work on crafting pieces that express the unique lived experiences of different cultures. To help them develop this work, Storyshares designed live workshops led by teaching artists who represent a variety of cultural perspectives, including Shira Engel and Girls Write Now mentor Joanna Szeto. Additionally, mentees at Girls Write Now will be able to submit to a writing contest design specifically for them called The Stories Without Borders Writing Contest. Submissions officially open on February 9th.

“The stories that are emerging from this Journey ensure that the multicultural and multilingual readers we are trying to engage have access to stories created uniquely for them. We hope that through these stories, they will be able to see refected their own experiences and the richness of diverse languages.”

—Shira Engel, Storyshares Chief Academic Officer & Girls Write Now Mentee Alum

Want to get involved with Storyshares?

Every month, Storyshares hosts free webinars that dive deep into the strategies that actually move the needle for older striving readers. Webinar topics range from instructional strategies, family engagement, conversations on transforming literacy at the secondary level, and beyond! To stay updated on the Storyshares webinar series, please visit their Professional Learning page, or join our newsletter mailing list.