Novelly

The word “elevate” is at my core. I know what it feels like to question whether lived experiences are valid and seen. As an Asian American women, the anti-Asian violence happening globally brought back painful memories for me: fetishized (a stranger asked me for a massage “because you girls just love that”) to foreignized ("Your English is actually really good") to taunted (an adult nicknamed me "Made in China") to assaulted (last year, a stranger ran up to me and punched me in the face in public). Through Novelly, I turn this pain into power. In our app, we publish pieces from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ teenagers and host conversations around those pieces. The message is loud and clear: marginalized youth are shouting, but it feels like no one is listening. I would use the Prize funding to elevate our passionate volunteers as paid staff in product, digital community, partnerships, and education, which will equip us to publish more youth stories and grow our youth membership exponentially. I would use the Prize support to elevate the idea that marginalized youth are more than ready to contribute their voices to this wider cultural conversation, which is not widely accepted yet.

My students asked me heartbreaking questions like, “Ms. Casalme, will I get assaulted when I go to college?” I couldn’t take away their concerns, but I could give them a space to talk about it. Novelly started from my classroom, taking many forms, such as lesson plans and an after-school program. As we've changed and grown, one thing remains constant: my commitment to our members, as a fellow queer young woman and POC, researcher, educator, and as a former teenager who found courage through stories. As a tech-enabled and civic-minded book club, Novelly elevates youth stories that meet the moment on injustice related to race, gender, and sexuality, and elevates youth conversations that move us forward. It will take both courageous storytelling and courageous conversations to address these inequities and I feel so motivated to lead this organization because it gives me hope. Every day, I can read the stories and discussions of our members and see a world in which youth from marginalized communities are no longer afraid to claim space. My vision is that our membership will grow to 10,000 youth members who will go on to become the Amanda Gormans of the world.

We need to talk: 7 out of 10 teenagers in the US are worried about their future. Girls, especially marginalized girls (LGBTQ+ and BIPOC girls), report suffering the most mentally during this pandemic. They’re worried about their health and safety while struggling to keep up with online schooling. One of my students asked me a heartbreaking question: “Ms. Casalme, will I get raped when I go to college?” They’re desperately processing trauma related to their gender, race, and sexuality, but the stigma and hyper-polarization surrounding these topics are further threatening their ability to thrive. In fact, 8 out of 10 teenagers in the US report wanting to be part of the wider cultural conversation around these topics, but feel excluded and wrongfully perceived as “naive,” “immature,” and “lacking sufficient knowledge” to participate. Youth, especially marginalized youth, are turning to peer-led spaces for healing, connection, and hope. As a Novelly member shared with our team, “Right now, what we’re lacking in society is the ability to listen to each other.”

With 1,300 members across 27 states in less than a year, Novelly is the largest civic-minded book club for teenagers in the US. Our book club is the Novelly mobile app, where members access a growing library of curated and diverse youth-written stories, journal prompts sparking empathy and critical thinking and moderated youth-led discussions. We celebrate and amplify the stories of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC teenagers. Novelly is a digital youth-led space for courageous storytelling and courageous conversations on the tough topics related to race, gender, and sexuality that teenagers are most concerned about, especially after the trauma of 2020. The vast majority of Novelly members are marginalized teenage girls. We chose this group as our beneficiaries because the Novelly solution is at the intersection of civics and socioemotional learning. Both of these areas of education do not have a one-size-fits-all approach and need to be highly tailored to be effective. Over the past two years, we learned how Novelly is making an impact on this target market: 90% of Novelly members surveyed participated in courageous conversations outside of Novelly, meaning that they are finding more opportunities to heal and connect that they didn’t see before.

Lane, a 16-year-old trans student (she/her), told us, “Through Novelly, I feel like I’ve found my voice, but more importantly, I’ve found my family.” When we publish their stories and hold space for their dialogue, we help marginalized teenagers, especially girls, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ youth,  like Lane transform from feeling powerless to powerful. We believe that this transformation is the best that the intersection of civics and socioemotional learning has to offer girls but is so difficult to access in traditional schooling, especially for marginalized girls. We listened closely to our members to understand our impact and what success looks like: (1) When our members no longer question whether or not their stories, lived experiences, and voices matter and (2) When they feel empowered and capable of prioritizing their own healing, fostering authentic connection with others, and starting necessary conversations that take a lot of bravery, especially at such a young age.