Penguin Random House: Amanda Gorman and Chrissy King Honored with Girls Write Now’s Agents of Change Award

Penguin Random House is proud of it’s longstanding relationship with Girls Write Now, New York’s first and only writing and mentoring organization for girls and gender non-conforming youth. The organization has been distinguished three times by the White House as one of the nation’s top after school programs, and twice by the Nonprofit Excellence Awards as one of New York City’s top ten nonprofits.

This year, Penguin Young Reader’s author Amanda Gorman and Tiny Reparation Books author Chrissy King were honored with the Agents of Change Award.


Madeline McIntosh.

At their NYC event earlier this month, hosted at DVF Studios in NYC, Girls Write Now celebrated 25 years of next gen leaders driving change throughout New York City—and now nationwide. Madeline McIntosh, Penguin Random House CEO U.S., returned as a featured speaker at this year’s event, after having been presented with the Agents of Change Award last year, for shepherding initiatives that have deeply impacted the growth of Girls Write Now and their mission to work with the next generation of writers.


Chrissy King

Amanda Gorman is the youngest presidential inaugural poet in US history. Chrissy King is a writer, speaker, strength coach, and educator with a passion for creating a diverse and inclusive wellness industry. Phoebe Robinson, founder of Tiny Reparations Books, a division of PRH, was honored as a Special Guest. Robinson is also known as a multitalented stand-up comedian, a New York Times bestselling writer, and an actress.

Previous years have spotlighted PRH colleagues, including Christine Ball, Senior Vice President & Publisher of Dutton, Plume, and Berkley, who has assisted with the production of the Girls Write Now annual anthology for years. Christine’s team at Dutton has previously partnered with the organization on an employee engagement workshop which was a win-win for all and encouraged mentees in the program to learn more about publishing and how to join this fantastic industry.

PRH authors such as Lauren Wilkinson, Edwidge Danticat and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have been honored by the organization as well.