Pros&Conversation 2025
Thank you for attending
Celebrate 20 years of Teens in Print amplifying youth voices
Event Details
Thursday, May 1, 2025
5:30 - 8:30pm | WBUR CitySpace, 890 Commonwealth Ave
Join us for Pros&Conversation, WriteBoston’s annual fundraiser and a celebration of the power of youth voice. The event features a compelling conversation between acclaimed local authors and our own teen journalists.
This year’s event honors 20 years of Teens in Print, Boston’s long-standing publication by teens, for teens.
ASL interpretation will be available during the program portion of this event.
Featured Authors
Omo Moses
Omo Moses is an entrepreneur, author, producer, and organizer. He is currently the founder and CEO of MathTalk, a public benefit, ed-tech company based in Cambridge, MA. He is the former Executive Director and a founding member of the Young People’s Project; producer of the award-winning documentary, Finding Our Folk, which features the Grammy-nominated Hot 8 Brass Band; and author of two books, Sometimes We Do and The White Peril. He is the father of Johari and Kamara Moses.
Ilyon Woo
Ilyon Woo is the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom—an instant New York Times best-seller, one of the New York Times “Ten Best Books of the Year,” a People Magazine “Top 10 Book of the Year,” and a finalist for a Kirkus Prize. She is also the author of The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother’s Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times. She holds a BA in the Humanities from Yale College and a PhD in English from Columbia University. She fell in love with books and history at the King Open School in Cambridge.
Event Committee
Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, The MRCT Center
Lori Britton, Community Resource Consulting
Bing Broderick, JustBook-ish
Lauren Cosulich, Summit Trail Advisors
Suzanne McGlone, Boston Public Schools
Eva Mitchell, Coalition for Career Development Center
Dr. Patricia Kelly, KW Consultants
Ronna Tarlow, Dunbar Language School
Contact Us
For more information about the event, including registration or sponsorship options, please contact Katie Grischow at katiegrischow@writeboston.org.
Drawings by Nicolas Lambelet Coleman
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
TiP@20 Underwriter
Newsroom Champions
Jenny & Jay Leopold
Summer Learning Partners
Caren Arnstein & Kelvin Cross
Student Advocates
Frannie Moyer • Eastern Bank • Ronna & Dan Tarlow
Friends of Teens in Print
Glynn Lloyd • Lori Smith Britton • Ruth & Bill WeinsteinNick Martin & Lyndsey Moran • Dr. Patricia Kelly • Jim & Amy Tierney
Media Sponsors
Pros&Conversation 2024
05.23.2024
Celebrate literacies of belonging with WriteBoston.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
5:30 - 8:30pm | CitySpace, 890 Commonwealth Ave
Join WriteBoston for Pros&Conversation: our annual fundraiser and a chance to celebrate the accomplishments of our students, teachers, and community.
Guests will hear compelling conversations between acclaimed published authors and Teens in Print youth writers. They’ll also mingle with some of our writers, pick up free copies of the authors’ books, and enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres with friends.
Featured Authors
Carmen Fields
Carmen Fields is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist known for her role as host and producer at WHDH-TV, showcasing her commitment to impactful storytelling. Her book, Going Back to T-Town: The Ernie Fields Territory Big Band, celebrates the rich history of her father’s legendary jazz ensemble and was recently nominated for Best Biography / Autobiography of the year by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Porsha Olayiwola
Porsha Olayiwola blends her talents as a poet, performer, educator, and curator to inspire and challenge audiences, currently serving as the City of Boston’s Poet Laureate. Her acclaimed work, “i shimmer sometimes, too,” highlights her skill as the Individual World Poetry Slam Champion, reflecting her unique voice rooted in Afro-futurism, magical realism, and sci-fi.
Dr. Kimberly N. Parker
Dr. Kimberly N. Parker is dedicated to transforming education as an educator and as the Director of the Crimson Summer Academy at Harvard, focusing on access and equity. Her book, Literacy is Liberation: Working Toward Justice Through Culturally Relevant Teaching, articulates her vision for a more just and inclusive educational system.
Event Committee
Sylvia Baedorf Kassis
The MRCT Center
Ari Branz
St. Stephen’s Youth Programs
Lauren Cosulich
Summit Trail Advisors
Doris Iarovici
Harvard University
Alexandra Indira Sanyal
Argus
Glynn Lloyd
Mill Cities Community Investments
Chris Lydon
Radio Open Source
Suzanne McGlone
Boston Public Schools
Eva Mitchell
Coalition for Career Development Center
Linda Nathan
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Sung-Joon Pai
Hale Education
Melissa Rodriguez
Bade Law Group
Scott Zoback
Argus
Event Sponsors
Jenny & Jay Leopold
Media Sponsors
Contact Us
For more information about the event, including registration or sponsorship options, please contact Mariah Villarreal at mariahvillarreal@writeboston.org.
Pros&Conversation 2023
05.11.2023
Celebrate the transformative power of learning and literacy.
Thursday, May 11, 2023
6 - 8pm | UMass Club, Downtown Boston
Join WriteBoston for Pros&Conversation: our annual fundraiser and a chance to celebrate the accomplishments of our students, teachers, and community.
Guests will hear compelling conversations between acclaimed published authors and Teens in Print youth writers. They’ll also mingle with some of our writers, pick up free copies of the authors’ books, and enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres with friends.
Featured Authors*
Click the image to learn more.
Simon Han
Author of the novel, Nights When Nothing Happened and professor of fiction at Tufts.
Pacifique Irankunda
Author of the memoir, The Tears of a Man Flow Inward: Growing up in the Civil War in Burundi.
Jaime Lowe
Author of Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California Wildfires and the memoir, Mental.
Heather McGhee
Author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.
* Simon Han, Pacifique Irankunda, and Jaime Lowe will join our event panel in person. Heather McGhee will participate in a pre-recorded interview with a TiP student, which we’ll air at the event.
Event Committee
Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, MPH
Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center & Writer
Misook DesJardins
Babson College
Maureen Franco
PRE Commercial
Maura Hogan
Burson Cohn & Wolfe
Briana Howe
Fidelity
Sam Howe
Nixon Peabody LLP
Nicole Iannucci
Denterlein
Doris Iarovici
Community Volunteer
Cynthia Mohr
Philanthropist and Volunteer
Jeffrey Musman
Seyfarth
Lisa Jenks
Lisa Clark Jenks Design, LLC and Community Volunteer / Mentor
Alexandra Indira Sanyal
ThinkArgus
Tom Snow
Sanofi
Daniel Vidaña
President, Innovation Studios
Ruth Weinstein
Freshman Fresh Start
Event Sponsors
Jenny & Jay Leopold
Media Sponsors
Contact Us
For more information about the event, including registration or sponsorship options, please contact Liberty Britz at libertybritz@writeboston.org.