Last month, LitWorld and Global G.L.O.W. welcomed Naomi Meyer to the team to help deepen and grow the HerStory Campaign! Our Research & Development Intern Kisha Bwenge sat down with Naomi to learn more about her story.
What brought you to LitWorld and what do you do here?
I’m extraordinarily grateful and proud to be coordinating the HerStory Campaign because I believe the work we're doing is useful and improves the world for future generations. I’m passionate about literacy and compelling narrative as engines for social change, amplifying the voices of women and girls who are often ignored in the global policy discourse. Educating a girl growing up in a challenging environment and creating a platform for her stories of strength and resilience to be shared with the world (and actually listened to), is a meaningful way to ignite real change.
As the HerStory Campaign Coordinator, I work for both Global G.L.O.W. (our California-based partner) and LitWorld (here in Manhattan), supporting operations of programs in developing communities around the world, maintaining consistent communication with local partners about training, project timelines, site visits, and budgets. I support the development and revisions to curriculum and collaborate on the creation of social media and digital content, processes data and anecdotes to support assessment protocols and share stories from the field. All while writing, researching, presenting, event planning, and grant writing/applying.
I'm originally from near Seattle, WA and have a background in international development and education: working as a community educator, teacher, non-profit case manager and researcher across New Zealand, Taiwan, Myanmar/Burma, Japan, Malaysia, and Burkina Faso. I'm deeply humbled and simply elated to be on the HerStory team!
Is there anything that has surprised you since you started working here?
Our WeWork co-working space is such a wonderful place to work. When I started I was delightfully surprised to see my beautiful desk, all the different choices in the shared kitchen, and overall amazing facilities that fuel collaborative work and creativity.
What is the last book you read? How did you like it?
I read everyday on my subway commute, so I usually have multiple books going at the same time. This week I finished The Girl in the Spider’s Web which was a gripping novel. I’m about halfway through re-reading Nomad a memoir written by the incredible Ayaan Hirsi Ali that I would highly recommend to all, and just starting reading Getting Things Done: the art of stress free productivity. I always love good book suggestions and lately I’ve been particularly interested in reading dystopian novels and powerful memoirs.
What is your “six word memoir”?
Grateful for this life I’m livin.’