One Earth Writing Launches to Build Bridges of Understanding through Storytelling

Writer and PR pro Lynne Golodner creates non-profit to bring tweens and teens together in an effort to increase understanding and spread peace across a new generation

In a world so fraught with stories of difference and animosity, it can be hard to see the similarities all people share. Similarities that could build a foundation of peace, understanding and collaboration rather than a world fractured by hatred, fear and misinformation.

One Earth Writing seeks to change that. The new non-profit launched this summer by author, writing instructor and public relations entrepreneur Lynne Golodner aims to bring writing workshops to teens and tweens in schools, houses of worship, community centers and other settings as a way of building bridges of understanding and emphasizing the ways in which all people are similar.

“I have always written about, and been fascinated by, the ways in which we share common ground,” says Golodner, the mother of four tweens/teens, owner of Your People LLC public relations firm and a renowned author and blogger. “I’ve been wanting to do something that expands that notion beyond just writing compelling stories. Through One Earth Writing, I hope to transform the generation coming up with ideas of similarity and collaboration and stamp out bigotry one person at a time.”

One Earth Writing is supported by a board of directors with stellar and far-reaching connections and perspectives on how to heal the world. The board includes Detroit poet laureate and global writing instructor and performer M.L. Liebler, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Detroit Today radio host Stephen Henderson, writer and writing instructor Maureen Dunphy, writer and editor Lisa Brody, attorney, legal blogger and entrepreneur Alisa Peskin-Shepherd and American Federation of Teachers archivist and oral historian Dan Golodner.

Golodner delivered a OEW workshop at the Michigan Teen Conference recently for teens in foster care, about “Branding YOU,” teaching teens how their stories can serve them and how to revise their personal stories if they don’t. In August, she will present a One Earth Writing workshop to empower youth ages 10-15 in Saginaw’s most challenged neighborhood to see how words give them power and confidence.

Other workshops in the works include potential collaborations with the Interfaith Leadership Council and Walled Lake Consolidated Schools social justice curriculum as well as some seminars abroad that bring together youth in Israel and Palestine, among other burgeoning relationships.

Golodner plans for One Earth Writing to grow in an organic, grassroots fashion. She hopes to host four workshops before the end of 2016 and eventually grow to monthly programs. In time, One Earth Writing will publish a book of writing created in its workshops and curricula that other communities can use to achieve the same goal of harmony and connection.

“I am grateful to be able to start something that could potentially change our communities for the better,” says Golodner. “I have always believed in the power of words to build us up or break us down. I am honored to have the support of an amazing board who believe in this concept and want to see it change our world.”

ABOUT ONE EARTH WRITING

One Earth Writing seeks to build harmony in the world through writing workshops that connect tweens and teens from different communities and beliefs. Through storytelling, writing and one-on-one connection, One Earth Writing builds bridges of understanding, to see how similar all people truly are. We may come from different races, religions, ethnicities, national origins, sexual orientations or socioeconomic backgrounds, but at the core, we are more similar than we are different.

It is our goal at One Earth Writing to use story as a way of expanding world views, working with youth to change a generation’s perspective, so that one day, we may live in a world where we see similarity rather than difference.

One Earth Writing is in the process of qualifying for 501(c)(3) status and anticipates receiving official recognition later this year. Learn more at www.oneearthwriting.org