Girls Write Now
Elizabeth Baribeau, Senior Grant Writer
Ariah Dow, Community Coordinator
Spencer George, Special Initiatives Assistant
Kelsey LePage, Development & Operations Associate
Molly MacDermot, Director of Special Initiatives
Natalie McGuire, Controller
Teresa Mettela, Intern
Anjali Misra, Community Fellow
Maya Nussbaum, Founder & Executive Director
Lisbett Rodriguez, Community Coordinator
Erica Silberman, Director of Curriculum & Engagement
Richelle Szypulski, Public Events Producer
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 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 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.
Spencer George is a writer and student based in New York City by way of the Appalachian South. She is a rising senior at Barnard College, pursuing degrees in English Literature, Human Rights, and Creative Writing. Her work is interested in the intersection of storytelling and empathy, and has been featured on platforms such as Girlology, Skirt! Magazine, the L’Ephemere Review, and Not Your Girl. Spencer was the 2019 recipient of the Peter S. Prescott prize for Prose Writing. She can usually be found trekking the woods, looking for the best coffee in New York, or in an airport.
Teresa Mettela is a rising sophomore 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 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 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.
Anjali Misra graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018, where she studied Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Music and served as the Co-President of SHINE for Girls, a hybrid math and dance-based mentorship organization. Anjali was awarded the George J. Mitchell Scholarship to pursue her Masters in Public Health in Ireland, where she discovered her love for writing. Now a newly minted resident of New York City, Anjali is eager to work alongside the Girls Write Now team to help girls build confidence they can carry wherever their own journeys lead.
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.
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.