Vision

We envision a future in which every young person in DC is able to confidently use writing to communicate their experiences, explore new ideas, and enjoy the creative process.

Goals

1. 1.Students’ intrinsic motivation to grow their literacy skills when their writing is treated as something meant to be read, shared, & heard. They take greater care with revision, ask more questions about craft, & demonstrate pride when their work appears in a printed anthology or is read aloud on a stage. In the last year, we have increased opportunities to publish or present student work by 200%.
2. 2.Building on feedback from alumni of our Afterschool Writing Lab (1st-8th grades) who expressed a strong desire to continue participating and growing together as writers, we are launching two new programs for high schoolers to pursue creative writing projects while receiving tailored support, and providing mentorship to our younger students.
3. 3.We are proud that, during a period of significant strain across the nonprofit sector, 826DC has stabilized its fundraising over the last year and used that steady footing to look at our capacity and the opportunities ahead. Our team has been working to explore earned revenue strategies that build on our writing expertise. This allows us to diversify funding and increase our community outreach.