WriteGirl (www.writegirl.org) is a creative writing and mentoring organization in Los Angeles that pairs at-risk teen girls with professional women writers for one-on-one mentoring and group workshops. Founder and executive director Keren Taylor started WriteGirl in her Los Feliz apartment in 2001, with a handful of women writers and a three-page Strategic Plan. Seven years later, WriteGirl is a thriving organization serving hundreds of teen girls, offering creative writing workshops, mentoring, readings and opportunities for teen girls to be published in nationally-distributed, award-winning books. WriteGirl's program is specifically designed to provide the tools and resources teens in LA's underserved populations need to engage and excel in school, assume leadership roles, positively impact their communities and improve their lives. We are very proud to report that 100% of girls participating in WriteGirl's core program have not only graduated from high school but gone on to college – a remarkable statistic compared to the near-50% dropout rate in Los Angeles public high schools.

Throughout the WriteGirl season, professional women writers mentor teen girls in our nine-month Core Mentoring Program, working one-on-one every week on writing experiments, college applications and ongoing works of fiction and nonfiction. Once each month, all the women and girls of WriteGirl gather for an inspiring full-day creative writing workshop. And despite the challenges of staffing and funding, we have expanded in the last two years, launching the WriteGirl In-Schools Program to serve more than 150 girls in critically at-risk neighborhoods in Compton, Lawndale and South L.A. At these schools as with all WriteGirl workshops, the environment is fun and supportive, but we also have a secret (don't tell them!) – we call it "literacy in disguise" – the creative confidence these students gain with WriteGirl is directly linked to their academic success. WriteGirl is about creating a future for young girls – a future that ensures they stay in school and graduate, that takes them to college and returns them to our communities as bright, enthusiastic, educated and confident young women who have something to give, and are eager to give back.
We are very grateful that Women and Words is supporting WriteGirl this year. By ensuring the future of WriteGirl, you are helping to give girls the skills and confidence they need to thrive, to succeed, to create brilliant futures and go beyond any boundaries they currently face. Thank you, from all the women and girls of WriteGirl.