Meet Our Team

Ayah Al-Masyabi is a student journalist, artist, and writer with work published in The Colorado Sun, YR Media, The Talon at the Community College of Denver, and more. As an artist and writer, stories – especially about humans – are what get her up in the morning and motivate her to keep writing about the things that matter. Any compelling story interests her, but those surrounding culture, food, and sports are some of her favorites.

Julia Andresakis is a writer born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She is a former mentee, intern, and digital media producer for Girls Write Now — if you’ve scrolled through the Resources section of the website, you are familiar with her work.  She holds a degree in film and creative writing from Brooklyn College. While an undergraduate, she placed first in fiction in the 2019-2020 CUNYwide LaborArts “Making Work Visible” contest. An aficionado for all things surreal, uncanny, and liminal, her work typically focuses on lonely souls pursuing unconventional obsessions. Julia is excited to support Girls Write Now in a more involved capacity.

Azia Armstead (she/her) is a poet from Richmond, Virginia. She holds an MFA in Poetry from New York University where she received the Goldwater Fellowship. In 2019, Azia was a finalist for the Furious Flower Poetry Prize judged by A. Van Jordan and honorable mention for the Arts Club of Washington’s Scholarship Award for Poetry. Azia was chosen as a finalist for the 2023 Nine Syllables Press Chapbook Contest. Her work has appeared in Boston Review, The Quarry, Obsidian, Rattle and elsewhere. She currently lives in Brooklyn.

Annaya Baynes (she/they) is a Community Coordinator. They graduated from Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and French. As an undergraduate, she worked on Spelman’s social justice podcast, The Blue Record, and the reproductive justice-oriented podcast Black Feminist Rants. Annaya has interned at various publishing houses, including Penguin Random House, Macmillan, and The Feminist Press. They have a deep love for literature and film. She is a Master’s student at NYU’s Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies.

Storytelling is in Chelle’s DNA. Chelle (Rochelle)’s imagination is the lens through which she experiences the world. Like many children, life obtruded upon her dreams, and bit by bit, she forgot them. Her stories never forgot her. In the wake of a career as an HR executive, she evolved into perhaps the world’s most reluctant stay-at-home mom. She raised two children, trained a beloved boxer puppy, and in quiet moments, listened to the muse. She returned to writing and hasn’t stopped. A linguaphile and lover of the oxford comma, anything, in the form of a story can engage, inform, and delight. A grateful steward of Girls Write Now’s emerging creatives, she commits to never let any writer ignore a siren’s call.

Kathryn is a nonprofit researcher and writer and also was the 2022-23 Editor-In-Residence for Girls Write Now. An only child from Harlem, NYC, Kathryn looks for community in many spaces centered on her interests such as cooking, comedy, Blackness, queerness and investigative journalism. She is a Girls Write Now mentee and is fascinated by film, media and writing as avenues for social advocacy and activism. As a young creative, she is excited to utilize various mediums to speak against injustice and share stories from marginalized voices.

Kayla Dudley (she/her) is a poet, educator, and artivist dedicated to using storytelling as a tool for social change. A recent graduate from John Jay College with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Africana Studies, she explores the intersections of identity, justice, and healing through her work. She is the CEO/Founder of Healotry, a workshop series that invites participants to confront silence and reclaim their voices through creative expression. Her poetry often centers on love, resilience, and the lived experiences of Black women and queer communities. She aspires to continue blending art and advocacy as she pursues her graduates in creative writing and Africana Studies.

Sally Familia (they/them) is a queer poet and freelance editor. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Washington Heights, Familia has a rooted passion for their community. They spent a year serving as senior editor for La Galería Magazine, a Dominican-based magazine for the Dominican diaspora in Washington Heights. They hold a B.A. in creative writing with a focus on poetry from SUNY Oswego. Most recently, Sally’s passions have shifted; now incorporating a strong desire to work with and for the youth. Sally hopes to merge their love for literature, Queer and BIPOC communities, and the youth as they continue to navigate the artist/ professional dichotomy. Sally has been awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize for the poem, “The Trouble with Reminiscing” (2019). They were also nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Brooklyn Poets for the poem, “Esperanza, Republica Dominicana”. Sally is currently working on their first poetry collection.

Ellen Rae Huang (she/her) hails from Seattle, WA originally but has always felt like a New Yorker at heart. After graduating from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Theatre, she made her way to NYC. Ellen got her start in event planning while working at Grey Group in their medical education division, but once she transitioned into the nonprofit sector, she never looked back. Over the last 15 years she has developed her fundraising skills, specializing in special events and individual giving, while at Girl Scouts of Greater New York, StoryCorps, and, most recently, at the Korean American Community Foundation. Ellen enjoys hiking, snorkeling, and spending time with her two kids, even when they trounce her at Mario Kart.

Jesse Jagtiani  is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and researcher of Indian-German heritage residing in New York City. Jesse earned her Doctor of Education in Art & Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, complemented by an MFA in Studio Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, and a degree in Visual Communications from the University of Arts, Berlin. Her research centers on the formative dimensions of intuition, bridging indigenous wisdom with contemporary scientific perspectives to foster a balance of the intuitive and the rational mind within Western educational paradigms. Jesse’s artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and her scholarly contributions extend to various publications, including chapter three of the book Developing Informed Intuition for Decision Making. Jesse has taught in (and outside of) higher education for numerous years and is passionate about supporting emerging artists, writers, and leaders on their creative, academic, and career pathways.

Vahni Kurra (she/hers) hails from disparate parts of the American Midwest with roots in Southern India. She recently earned a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Kenyon College, where she co-edited Hika, Kenyon’s oldest, student-run literary magazine. Vahni’s work centers on themes of displacement, and her personal essay, “Banana Republic,” was published in Oyster River Pages. She is currently the book review editor for Sweet: A Literary Confection. Vahni has always been a strong advocate for the rights of women and trans* folks, as she has interned for NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio and helped facilitate a peer support program for Kenyon students impacted by sexual assault. Vahni is excited to blend her passions for gender equality and creative writing as she works with Girls Write Now to ensure that all mentees have the same opportunities that she did to pursue their artistic and personal dreams.

Kelsey LePage comes to Girls Write Now with great experience from administration and fundraising to developing curriculum and teaching youth. She has worked in creative, educational, and humanitarian settings serving local communities — at YMCA, Playworks, and most recently in sales and event management at NY Kids Club. Originally from New Hampshire, Kelsey enjoys hiking, kayaking and would be perfectly happy getting lost in a museum or library for a day. She is excited to be starting a new life in a new city and to be sharing her passions with the Girls Write Now team.

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.

Kayla Martinez is a writer and illustrator who is based in the Bay Area. Whether writing or painting, she loves exploring the occult, whimsical, and weird. If she’s not hunched over her laptop or covered in paint, you can probably find her hiking, trying new recipes, or spending time with her family.

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.

Elmer Meza earned his BA in Economics from Dartmouth College in 2010. After graduation, he spent a year studying Mandarin Chinese at Fudan University in Shanghai. Elmer began his career as an Americorps VISTA member at New York Cares where he helped to build a local volunteer base for select NYC public schools. Since then, he has focused on technology and data management at Prep for Prep, Oliver Scholars, Delivering Good and most recently at The Brotherhood Sister Sol.