826LA

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826LA is a nonprofit organization (located in Venice Beach, California) dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Services are structured around the belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

826LA benefits from the cultural and artistic resources in the Los Angeles area. Every month they present a free workshop at the Armand Hammer Museum in which artists, writers, and performers teach their craft. In the Spring of 2006, they collaborated with the J. Paul Getty Museum to create Community Photoworks, a months-long program that taught seventh-graders the basics of photographic composition and analysis, sent them into Los Angeles with cameras, and then helped them polish artist statements. Since opening, they’ve provided thousands of hours of free one-on-one writing instruction. They’ve sent volunteers into schools all over Los Angeles, held two summer camps for English language learners, given students sportswriting training in the Lakers press room, and published love poems written from the perspective of leopards.

The 826LA Board of Directors consists of Joshuah Bearman, Nínive Clements Calegari, Dave Eggers, Jodie Evans, John T. Gilbertson, Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, Melissa Mathison, Amy Orringer, and Sally Willcox.

There are 826 National chapters in San Francisco (826 Valencia), NYC (826NYC), Seattle (826 Seattle), Chicago (826CHI), and Ann Arbor (826 Michigan).