Neighborhood Writing Alliance - JOT.org

History

Staff

Board of Directors

Advisory Councils

NWA Staff

The Neighborhood Writing Alliance (NWA) is run by a small but dedicated and energetic staff of three with diverse backgrounds and wide-ranging interests. The staff is committed to individual empowerment and community building through the written word.

Carrie Spitler

Executive Director

Publisher, Journal of Ordinary Thought View Bio >>

Carrie Spitler joined NWA in September 2002. During her time at NWA, Carrie has led the organization through a strategic planning process, increased its budget by 20%, and expanded its outreach initiatives. During her tenure, new workshops have been developed in Albany Park, Chicago Lawn, Humboldt Park, West Englewood, and with Project Hope and St. Leonard's House. Carrie serves on the Englewood Community Cultural Council and the Chicago Lawn Working Group. Prior to joining the NWA staff, Carrie was the Director of Development at Access Living from 1997 to 2002, where she increased government support, organized record-setting annual galas, and facilitated the creation of a major gift program and Access Living's first endowment effort. She holds a BS in Political Science from Central Michigan University.

Hollen Reischer

Assistant Director

Editor, Journal of Ordinary Thought View Bio >>

Hollen Reischer joined the NWA staff in February 2010. Before joining NWA, Hollen edited and wrote curriculum and communications for Orion’s Mind, an education company serving low-income students. At Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), a national organization that engages people of faith in issues of workplace justice, she coauthored a book on immigration policy and ran the summer internship program for undergraduate students. She is an alumna of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, an organization engaging young people in direct service work that addresses the causes and effects of poverty in the United States. Hollen is a member of Duke University’s Center for Race Relations Alumni Association, through which she seeks to continue meaningful dialogue around issues of diversity and personal identity. In 2009, she organized an environmental awareness retreat for young adults in the Chicago area, and she is the winner of the 2008 Shinjo Ito Young Adult Art Contest. Hollen holds a BA in Psychology and a Certificate in Documentary Studies from Duke University.

Evin Rayford

Program Director

Associate Editor, Journal of Ordinary Thought View Bio >>

Evin Rayford comes to The Neighborhood Writing Alliance with a host of experiences in the artistic and educational arenas. Having over 8 years of workshop facilitation experience with underserved populations and non-native English speakers, she approaches her new position as Program Director with perspective and enthusiasm. Evin also has extensive experience planning and coordinating artistic expositions, having worked with organizations such as the Illinois Arts Council, Literature for All of Us and After School Matters. Evin has also worked as an advocate for educational advancement as an elementary school Success Coach, building partnerships with prestigious educational institutions nationally.

Workshop Leaders

NWA is grateful for the dedicated group of workshop leaders who keep each of our workshops challenging, inspiring, reflective, and fun. Our talented workshop leaders come with a wide range of backgrounds, including artists, community activists, folklorists, and teachers

Mairead Case joined NWA in December 2007. Before that, she worked at Northwestern University Press, TriQuarterly magazine, the Chicago Public Library, and Seattle's Richard Hugo House. Mairead founded the writing program at the South Bend Juvenile Justice Center, edited several independent publications and zines, and has been published in AREA, Ausgang, the Chicago Reader, Lumpen, Punk Planet, and the Stranger, among others. She has degrees in French and Liberal Studies from the University of Notre Dame.

Jen Cullerton

Workshop Leader, Mabel Manning Branch Library View Bio >>

Jen Cullerton Johnson has published fiction and creative nonfiction in literary journals and magazines. She has led writing workshops for high school students, elementary children, and continuing education students where she provides a positive and productive workshop environment where respect and craft coincide. She holds a MFA in Non-Fiction, a MEd in Curriculum and Development and is Illinois certified. In addition to workshops and writer visits, Jen has won numerous awards and grants for her work, including an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award.Through her work in the schools, Jen helps to plan and create Literacy Festivals, apply for grants, and facilitate teacher in-services. Jen is a founding member of MuseWrite a literary arts organization based in Chicago, and a board member of Switchback Books, a feminist poetry press. She lives and teaches in Chicago, Illinois.

Susan Eleuterio

Workshop Leader, Hall Branch Library View Bio >>

Susan Eleuterio is the author of Irish American Material Culture: A Directory of Collections, Sites and Festivals in the United States and Canada (Greenwood Press: 1988). She has conducted fieldwork and developed public programs including exhibits, performances, folk arts workshops, residencies in schools, and professional development for multiple organizations throughout the United States, and is currently working as an independent folklorist. She holds an MA in American Folk Culture from the Cooperstown Graduate Program (SUNY/Oneonta) and a BA in English/Education from the University of Delaware.

Carlos Flores

Workshop Leader, San Lucas Church in Humboldt Park View Bio >>

Carlos Flores is of Afro-Puerto Rican descent and has lived in the Lincoln Park/West Town-Humboldt Park neighborhood for more than four decades. Flores has been a community activist in Chicago's Latino community for most of his life, and has documented the development of his community through his photography and writings. He is also a cultural activist and has been the founder of community organizations like the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance and the Afro-Latin@ Institute of Chicago.

Carla Jankowski

Workshop Leader, Bezazian Branch Library View Bio >>

Carla Gubitz Jankowski grew up on the Northwest Side. After 15 years as a graphic designer, she turned to her first love-teaching. She taught high school English and Journalism and now continues to lead workshops for teachers through the Chicago Area Writing Project and Governor State University. She holds a BA from the University of Illinois (Urbana) and MAT from the University of Chicago.

Rachel Javellana

Workshop Leader, Chicago Lawn Branch Library View Bio >>

A Michigan native, Rachel Javellana is a poet and teaching artist in Chicago. She received a BA in English and creative writing from Kalamazoo College, and has spent the intervening years in community work, writing, travel, rock shows, and trying to find an apartment that won't go condo. In 2007, she received a Community Arts Assistance Program Grant from the City of Chicago.

Cynthium Johnson Woodfolk

Workshop Leader, Chicago Lawn Branch Library View Bio >>

Cynthium Johnson Woodfolk is a creative writing professor at Columbia College. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Columbia, and is currently completing both an MA and MFA. Cynthium is a Teaching Artist with a number of outreach programs: Arts Integration Mentorship (Project AIM), Saturday Scholars, Act Write, and the Story Workshop (SWI). She is an award-winning scholar, fiction writer, and playwright.

Donna Kiser

Workshop Leader, St. Leonard's House View Bio >>

Donna Kiser joined NWA in 2001, as a writer at the Jane Addams Resource Center writing group. During 2004 and 2005, she facilitated the Inspiration Cafe writing group (which later moved to Bezazian Branch Library). In January 2006, Donna conducted outreach for and initiated a new NWA workshop at Albany Park Community Center (currently at Albany Park Branch Library). In 2007, she opened the St. Leonard's House writing group. In addition to the Journal of Ordinary Thought, Donna has been published in Fictionary, Associated Content, and back2college.com, and also co-edits and designs the publication Poetry in the Round. She received her BA from Columbia College Chicago in Cultural Studies with a minor in Creative Non Fiction.

Tony Lindsay

Workshop Leader, King Branch Library View Bio >>

Tony Lindsay is the author of five books; One Dead Preacher, Street Possession, Chasin’ It, Urban Affair, One Dead Lawyer and a short story collection titled Pieces of the Hole. He is currently a MFA student at Chicago State University and teaches creative writing there under the adult continuing education program.

Erin Moore

Workshop Leader, Albany Park Branch Library View Bio >>

Erin Moore fell in love with the Neighborhood Writing Alliance as part of an overall infatuation with community-based writing organizations that developed while serving as an Americorps member. She became involved as a writer with the Albany Park group in September 2008, deepened her relationship with the community and has gone on to work at the Albany Park Community Center, the group's former location. Erin's writing has been published in the Journal of Ordinary Thought, as well as in AREA Chicago. Since receiving a degree in American Studies from Wesleyan University, she has led writing workshops in collaboration with The Chicago Freedom School, Insight Arts, and Project NIA, and has done community organizing work through Teachers for Social Justice and Growing Home. A believer in the value of storytelling as a means of transcending barriers, Erin is thrilled to be involved with NWA's community of artists, dreamers, and warriors beautifully voicing their fierce truths.

Edith Bucio