Christine Ball Receives Agent of Change Award from Girls Write Now
Girls Write Now honored Christine Ball, SVP, Publisher of Dutton, Putnam, and Berkley, with their “Agent of Change” award for directly impacting GWN’s mission to empower and amplify and young women’s voices. Iconic fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg hosted an October 10 celebration at her DVF studio. Guests included actor/advocates Cicely Tyson, Marlo Thomas, and Phil Donahue, as well as PRH colleagues Madeline McIntosh, Allison Dobson, Barbara Marcus, and Ivan Held. Additional honorees included Judith Curr, President & Publisher of the HarperOne Group; Alina Roytberg, Co-founder of Fresh; and Robin Thede, Executive Producer, Writer & Star of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show.
Christine Ball with fellow Agents of Change honorees and GWN founder Maya Nussbaum
In her speech at the ceremony, Christine reflected on an early mentor who helped set her on her career path: her fifth grade teacher, who helped her write her first poem and changed the trajectory of her life. “While this was only elementary school, my teacher Miss Five had opened a door to me that I may never have discovered without her encouragement.” Christine applauded GWN’s mission of helping over 600 mentees a year, noting, “they’re doing this in a moment where helping young women speak their truth is more important than ever.”
Girls Write Now’s mission is to mentor underserved young women to find their voices through the power of writing and community. Dutton has collaborated with GWN to produce two anthologies of the strong, boundary-pushing essays from mentees in the organization’s Writing & Mentorship program, GENERATION F and CTRL + B. Dutton will produce 2020’s anthology as well.
Past “Agents of Change” honorees include Tomi Adeyemi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Amy Berkower, Juju Chang, Roxane Gay, Ilana Glazer, Mira Jacob, Abbi Jacobson, DOMA’s Roberta Kaplan, Janet Mock, Pamela Paul, Melissa Harris-Perry, Phoebe Robinson, Zadie Smith, and Gloria Steinem.
Please join us in congratulating Christine Ball on joining their ranks!