Program Advisory Committee

Erin Baer, Pair Support Co-Chair, recently obtained a Master’s in Social Work from Fordham University. Formerly, she was professionally a publicist for a non-profit and privately a burgeoning fiction writer. She hopes to continue the latter even as her work takes on a whole new form. Erin has previously written for POZ magazine for the HIV positive community, Real Health magazine, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, among others. Her prolific writing for social change led her to Girls Write Now and largely informed her decision to become a social worker. Erin interned last year at Girls for Gender Equity and continues to bring her passion for working with adolescents everywhere she goes. Erin was inspired by her previous mentee’s talent and grace and can’t wait to meet this year’s mentees—who will doubtlessly be incredible as well. This is Erin’s fourth year with Girls Write Now.

Maya Frank-Levine, Curriculum Co-Chair, grew up mostly in Manhattan, although she has lived in four out of five of the New York City boroughs. She attended Hunter College, where she studied Creative Writing and Classics, and she now works at The Journal of Experimental Medicine, where she corrects grammar in articles about scientific experiments. Maya is currently writing her first novel, a fantasy set in Washington Heights. When she has spare time, Maya works on her blog, posting about reality shows, the Sweet Valley High series, and Baywatch. This is Maya’s thrid year with Girls Write Now.

Andrea Gabbidon-Levene, Enrollment Co-Chair, is an advisor at the CUNY Start Program at Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she assists students' transition into college. She was previously a development officer at The Urban Assembly. Andrea started her career as a journalist and has been published in the Boston Globe, New Jersey Herald and was a CampusVipe reporter for CNN.com during the 2004 presidential election. Andrea has a B.S. in Print Journalism from Emerson College and a M.S. in Urban Policy from the New School. A native of Long Island, Andrea is the daughter of two Jamaican immigrants. During her free time, Andrea enjoys reading, writing, and exploring New York City. Andrea was a mentor for Girls Write Now from 2008 to 2010 and is now in her second year on the program advisory committee as enrollment co-chair.

Tasha Gordon-Solmon, Readings Co-Chair is playwright, director, teacher and blogger. Her plays have been developed and produced at the Public Theater, Ars Nova, American Globe Theatre, Alumnae Theatre, Theatre in Her Shoes, TNC Theatre, Studio Tisch Festival, Freeplay Festival, Walking Fish Festival and The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. She was the recipient of a Producer’s Choice Award and Best Play Honorable Mention at the New York Fifteen Minute Play Festival; a Finalist for the Mabou Mines Residency and a Cherry Lane Mentor Project Nominee. She received her MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU, where she was the recipient of a Goldberg Fellowship in Playwriting and a Departmental Fellowship. She is a featured entertainment blogger for The Huffington Post, the Literary Associate at Women’s Expressive Theater and a proud member of the Ars Nova Play Group. This is her third year with Girls Write Now.

Anuja Madar, Pair Support Co-Chair, is one part of the pair support team and is here to help ensure all mentor-mentee relationships run smoothly. Her love for writing stems from a childhood obsession with the newspaper-editor-twin in the Sweet Valley Twins series, and after a few years of working at local Arizona publications, Anuja headed to the mecca of publishing—New York City. She has spent the last eight years in Manhattan, where she received a master’s degree in magazine journalism from New York University and currently works as an editor for Frommer’s travel guides. She also holds a bachelor’s in print journalism from the Walter Cronkite School at Arizona State University. While she does freelance editing, writing, and public relations, her most productive free time is spent plotting different ways to travel around the globe. This is Anuja's fifth year with 
Girls Write Now.

Julie Polk, Curriculum Co-Chair, trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and at the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program before receiving her MFA in nonfiction from the New School in 2007. She performed with numerous regional theaters and toured the U.S. with the National Shakespeare Company. Her solo show, Red White Black & Blue, was named a “Hidden Gem” of the 2002 NY Fringe Festival by NYTheatre.com and “Best of…” by CitySearch. She’s published essays at MrBellersNeighborhood.com and read at the Earshot! and Sunday Salon reading series. She’s currently at work on More Strange Than True, a YA novel about two productions of A Midsummer’s Night Dream that take place in the same mountain town over 100 years apart, and the unsolved murder that links them. By day, Julie works as a writer at branding firm Siegel + Gale, where she writes and leads writing workshops for clients including American Express and Motorola. She holds a B.A. in Religion from Barnard College and a red belt in Taekwondo. She's delighted to be returning to Girls Write Now for a third year.

Kirthana Ramisetti, Communications Co-Chair, never envisioned that an MFA degree in creative writing from Emerson College would lead to a career that indulges her pop culture addiction. As managing editor at Snackable Media, she enjoys working in the mobile media industry overseeing SMS-based trivia games and related properties, and has been interviewed as a pop culture thought leader by a variety of media outlets, including CNN, the Christian Science Monitor and E! Online. Kirthana has a special interest in promoting Asian-Americans in the media and entertainment industry, and in her spare time blogs about TV, diversity, and her hope that the two will intersect, at popscribblings.com. This is her third year with Girls Write Now.

Maria Teresa Romano, Curriculum Co-Chair, holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School and a BA in English from Yale University. She teaches creative writing at the Fordham University Science and Technology Entry Program and is the Director of the Bronx Writers' Center, where she creates programming that encourages writing and reading in her home borough. An award-winning author of short stories, Maria is working on a novel. This is Maria’s fifth year with Girls Write Now.

Erica Silberman, Readings Co-Chair, is a playwright and essayist. Her work is published in Playscripts, Sunday Salon-zine, and Teachers and Writers. She has written for theAtrainplays (a twenty-four hour theater project) fifteen times. Her plays have been produced or developed at New World Stages, Playwrights Horizon, The Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Metropolitan Playhouse, the Stonington Opera House, and HERE. She directs and develops solo work with actors, and is the former co-president of The New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts & Media. Erica is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Erica was a mentor from 2006-2009 and this is her third year as Readings Co-Chair.

Heather Smith, Enrollment Co-Chair, is Managing Editor of Drumhead Magazine, an internationally distributed magazine about drums and drummers. Working in the music industry has given her a unique perspective on the accelerating changes in technology and the delivery of recorded media. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, she finished high school at Tokyo’s American School in Japan. A graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.A. in Anthropology, Heather lived in Mali, West Africa, while doing research on childhood growth and development. This is Heather’s fifth year with Girls Write Now.

Elaine Stuart-Shah, Fundraising Co-Chair, is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer specializing in travel, culture, and the arts—particularly dance. Her articles have appeared in a range of national and regional publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Dance Magazine. She has also worked as an editor at Modern Bride and Child magazines and dabbled in marketing and copywriting. Elaine had a brief ballet career before attending college at Georgetown University. She is currently a graduate student in the Literary Reportage program at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, where she is working on a book about dance. This is her second year with Girls Write Now.

Josleen Wilson, Readings Co-Chair, started writing as a child and has never stopped. She is author of more than thirty definitive nonfiction books illuminating contemporary issues in American life. Many have set the standard in their field, including such groundbreaking works as Woman: Your Body, Your Health, Surviving Family Life, and Good Health for African Americans. She also has written and produced several award-winning short documentaries, among them Own Your Own Future, a film about HIV+ women in prison. Founding a successful after-school writing program for Harlem RBI, she taught and mentored young girls toward developing more fully realized lives. A former creative director for a major advertising agency (her "second career"), Josleen has been a force in developing talented newcomers in that industry. She continues to write under the banner of her own consulting firm, Sparks Fly Up Creative Solutions. This is Josleen’s fourth year with Girls Write Now.