Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Writopia Lab, Rebecca Wallace-Segall walks through how she and her team pull off a fun and productive camp newspaper at WriCampia, the writing non-profit's two-week sleepaway camp. Wallace-Segall stresses the importance of a co-created mission with campers, some best practices, and a joyful commitment to journalism's terms and structures.
HFH Partnerships Manager Tierra Gunther was recently recognized at Writopia Lab’s 2025 Gala, receiving an award for Excellence in Literacy, Leadership, and Programming—a celebration of HFH and Writopia Lab’s decade-long collaboration bringing creative writing and literacy enrichment to children at Saratoga Family Residence.
“I am so grateful to have worked with such a kind and vibrant soul in our aligned pursuit for the past eight years, supporting vulnerable young populations through our partnership between Writopia and HFH at Saratoga,” said Elsa Bermudez, Associate Director of Specialty Programs at Writopia Lab. “What sets Tierra apart in the field is her constant focus and enthusiasm for programmatic innovation and student-centeredness.”
“[Advanced Writing Seminar] was an amazing experience. A lot of us were sort of the one-off kids in our school communities. We were the token creative-writing nerds in our friend groups. So, it was nice being with other people who share that writing mindset and to realize I’m not alone in that.”
-Teddy Lykouretzos, age 18
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Writopia Lab, a youth literacy development center that ignites a fire for writing, Rebecca Wallace-Segall has seen a dramatic change in reading habits during her time as a director and educator: “It is impossible to miss that change in our cultural landscape—phones have replaced books (and even in-person social activities) during downtime.”
“But I have witnessed in both school and at Writopia that the more social we can make reading as an endeavor, the more life we can breathe life back into it.”
“Students, like the rest of us, have always had ways of plagiarizing,” Rebecca Wallace-Segall, founder and CEO of Writopia Lab in Manhattan — an organization that promotes creative writing, focusing on children, teenagers and young adults — told NeoFeed. “What's new in this debate is the confusion surrounding the role of writing in students' lives.”
Two Writopia teens bridge cultural and political divides.
