Girls Write Now

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    • Jan 22: FRIDAY NIGHT SALON WITH JASMIN KAUR
    • Jan 28: Book Launch Event for Cicely Tyson
Home / Community / Team

Team

Andrea Ambam, Community Coordinator
Elizabeth Baribeau, Senior Grant Writer
Ariah Dow, Community Manager
Kelsey LePage, Development & Operations Associate
Molly MacDermot, Director of Special Initiatives
Natalie McGuire, Controller
Tatiana Mena Ramos, Fellow
Teresa Mettela, Intern
Maya Nussbaum, Founder & Executive Director
Lisbett Rodriguez, Community Coordinator
Erica Silberman, Director of Curriculum & Engagement
Richelle Szypulski, Public Events & Content Manager

  • Join the team!
  • See our roster of speakers & teaching Artists

Maya Nussbaum

Maya Nussbaum has grown Girls Write Now over the last two decades from a loose association of women writers into a dynamic, volunteer-powered community, and a nonprofit after school program distinguished by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities as one of the top 15 in the nation, by the Nonprofit Excellence Awards as one of New York’s top 10 nonprofits, by Time Out New York as one of the best places to volunteer, and by Youth INC with the Innovators Award for improving the lives of New York youth. Maya has been named one of the Top 40 Feminists under 40 by The Feminist Press, one of the Top 20 Philanthropists under 40 by The Observer, a Local Hero by Metro New York, an Education Hero by The New York Times, a Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) People’s Voice Nominee, and a 2016 White House Champion of Change.

Molly MacDermot

Molly MacDermot found the teen years hard until she discovered books and a diary, which she wrote in daily. She thanks Charlotte Brönte and Harper Lee for paving the way. Molly served as Editor-in-Chief of five national magazines, including J-14, the #1 teen entertainment magazine in the US. She conceptualized and managed several teen websites and their social media components. Molly is a regular columnist, consults as a media strategist and has written five young adult books. Molly was featured in The New York Times, Adweek, Mediaweek, and Folio, and has appeared on MTV, Vh1, Inside Edition and several morning television shows to talk about pop culture and the youth market. Molly started her career at The New Yorker, and previously worked at Marie Claire (Australia) and Redbook.

Erica Silberman

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.

Kelsey LePage

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.

Teresa Mettela

Teresa Mettela is a junior at The City College of New York with the Macaulay Honors Program. She intends to major in International Studies and minor in Journalism and Economics. Through taking classes at City College, Teresa became immersed in writings by bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Silvia Federici, and she is so excited to further delve into these areas of interest through her internship with Girls Write Now. When she is not writing papers for college, you can probably find Teresa exploring the city with her boyfriend, writing poetry, or binge-watching Chopped on Food Network! As a Girls Write Now alumna, Teresa is especially looking forward to assisting the Girls Write Now staff in welcoming and engaging with the upcoming generation of girls that will soon change the literary and digital world!

Lisbett Rodriguez

Lisbett Rodriguez is a Girls Write Now mentee alumna and a Brooklyn College graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English. While an undergraduate, she contributed to making two publications of the Brooklyn College literary magazine, The Junction. She has previously worked with two women’s organizations, Legal Momentum and the Brooklyn College Women’s Center, to help and empower women.

Ariah Dow

Ariah Dow joins Girls Write Now after graduating with her Masters of Public Administration specializing in Management and Leadership for Public and Nonprofit Organizations from New York University. She is excited to apply her coursework to a cause she is extremely passionate about. Ariah worked as an administrator at New York University and with high school students prior. She feels fortunate to combine her work and educational experience to serve Girls Write Now constituents.

Elizabeth Baribeau

Elizabeth Baribeau specializes in arts fundraising, seeking out projects at the intersection of creativity and social justice that support writers, artists, and art institutions in their roles as cultural leaders. Before transitioning into the nonprofit sector, Elizabeth was a campaign consultant for EMILY’s List and The Office of Susie Tompkins Buell, supporting women running for public office. In 2011, she co-organized the “Women Who Frame the World: A Symposium on Creativity” at ODC Dance in San Francisco, featuring Anna Halprin, Beverly Pepper, Tina Packer, Liz Lerman and Kamala Harris. She has worked with international artists and organizations across creative mediums, and previously served as the Associate Director and Head of Institutional Development at Swiss Institute, New York.

Richelle Szypulski

After four years as a volunteer photographer for Girls Write Now, Richelle Szypulski is thrilled to join the team and to combine her passions for storytelling and inspiring creative confidence in young women. A journalism graduate of Point Park University and NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute, she has worked with various forms of print and multimedia content in marketing and publishing, most recently as a digital editor at Travel + Leisure. Outside of work, you’ll often find her frequenting yoga, dance, and meditation studios around the city, rehearsing for community theater productions, or missing her subway stop yet again thanks to a too-enthralling audiobook.

Andrea Ambam

Andrea Ambam is a politically-engaged theatre artist who believes in the arts potential for movement-building and transformative justice. As an actress and playwright, Andrea feels most at home in spaces where art and advocacy pulsate. She holds a Master’s degree in Art and Public Policy from New York University Tisch School of the Arts and her current work involves solo performance, racial injustice, ethnography, and verbatim theatre. Andrea is a 2020 EmergeNYC Fellow at the Hemispheric Institute and a 10-time national champion in public speaking and dramatic performance where she received the award of “Top Speaker in the Nation” three times.

Tatiana Mena Ramos

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Tatiana Mena Ramos is a multimedia creator who uses mediums such as videography, photography, graphic design, illustration, and writing to amplify voices through storytelling.  Before moving to NYC to complete her Master’s degree in Arts Politics at NYU, she worked with non-profits such as Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción and National Hispanic Institute to empower youth through leadership. Tatiana is also a freelance writer for BELatina: a Latinx platform focused on shifting narratives and compelling readers to reach outwards towards activism. Taking on assignments on sustainability and politics, she’s had the opportunity of highlighting community leaders and political candidates striving to make transformational change in their communities.

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Life Resources and Events

At Girls Write Now, we are saddened and horrified by the domestic terrorism grounded in the systemic racism and inequality we work as a community to challenge and change every day. We are here to support you individually and as a community through our robust programming. Check out our calendar to see our current offerings or visit our Life Resources page to support you during this time. 

We’re Hiring!

Looking for more purpose-driven work in the new year? Check out available roles to join the team! 

Friday Night Salon with Arisa White

Join us on Friday, January 15, 6-7:30PM EST for Memory, Metaphor & Magic: Writing Poetic Memoir with Arisa White!

GIVE. WRITE. NOW. And Thank you!!

Girls Write Now’s services are more essential than ever before—serving the hardest hit communities—and many of our young women and gender nonconforming youth have themselves become essential workers to help their families. They carry an enormous burden and face devastating loss, slipping further into poverty. To meet the need, we have enriched and extended our programs, leading the historical transition to virtual learning.

Get Involved!

Are you a licensed mental health professional who’d love to work with our community of writers and creatives? We’re seeking volunteer Wellness Advisors. Get more info & apply here!

Relive the Girls (Re)Write Now Awards

If you missed the awards, you can still watch it! Relive this revolutionary night of mini–master classes with honorees on empathy, art, activism & humor and Girls Write Now mentees on writing with purpose, climate justice & self-care. 

Writing from our Future Leaders

Taking Our Place in History: the Girls Write Now 2020 Anthology was published with support from Dutton and Amazon Literary Partnership, available for purchase from McNally Jackson Books and anywhere ebooks are sold!

Girls Write Now in the News

Girls Write Now’s work has recently been featured by the National Endowment for the Arts, Time Out New York, NYXT and more!

Girls Write Now

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