Princess NDidi (Didi) Anofienem

I founded The Writing School LA, an educational nonprofit, in 2024 after leaving my position at a special education school. Our mission is to help achieve a 100% literacy rate for all of America's children. We are very passionate about the literacy crisis and helping to address it because we really know the long-term impact of children not being able to read - it increases their rates of incarceration, reduces their employment opportunities, and is really bad for all of society. It has been very much a challenge starting a nonprofit and getting it up and running, with community outreach, looking for partnerships, and applying for grants. It is definitely stretching me to my limits, but I'm still very passionate about it. I'm currently working in a voluntary position since the nonprofit is not yet financially solvent, and I do not take a salary yet. I'm also a doctoral student enrolled in a dual doctoral program that will result in an EdD and a PhD after 4 years. I'm so busy, but I'm doing what I'm passionate about, so it just feels right and I feel very content.

• Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies
• University of Texas at Austin
• 2010
• Bachelor of Arts in English
• Creative Writing
• University of Houston
• Master of Fine Arts in Writing
• University of San Francisco
• Master of Education in Organizational Leadership
• Columbia University
• Master of Arts in Secondary English Education
• Western Governors University
• Doctoral Program (EdD and PhD)
• California University (anticipated graduation July 2028)

• 2024 International Impact Book Award for Fantasy
• Selected to present at Hawaii International Conference on Education
• January 2025

• California Teachers Association
• Society for Collegiate Leadership and Achievement
• Association of Writers and Poets
• National Council of Teachers of English

• The Writing School LA (Founder
• Voluntary position)