EmpowerLit started with something I kept seeing in schools.
I'm Gina Casazza, a children's author and founder of EmpowerLit Schools.
As a children's author, I've visited hundreds of schools, speaking directly with students about literacy, belonging, confidence, and the power of their own story.
Everywhere I went, I kept hearing and seeing the same things.
"I don't like reading."
"I'm not a good writer."
"I don't feel like I belong."
"I'm not good enough."
"Nobody wants to hear my story."
To me, these weren't separate problems. They were connected.
I Understood Those Students Because I Was One of Them
I struggled in school. I hated reading, and I hated writing. I was placed in remedial English, and I went to summer school year after year.
Then in eighth grade, I read The Outsiders. I saw myself in Ponyboy. He was fourteen and I was thirteen. He struggled with belonging, and so did I. That book made me feel understood.
One story changed my relationship with reading. I became a reader, and then I became a writer. Years later, that became part of the foundation for what I built.
Then I Saw It Happen With Other Kids
After becoming a children's author, I began visiting schools and speaking with students about literacy, belonging, and believing in themselves. I kept seeing the same struggles I had as a kid.
I wanted to do more than author visits alone, so I founded EmpowerLit Literacy & Beyond, a nonprofit creating literacy and confidence-building experiences, including summer literacy camps and student publishing opportunities.
I've watched kids who hated writing become published authors.
I've watched reluctant readers get excited to read the book they wrote.
I've watched shy students proudly share their stories in front of a room.
And I've seen what happens when a child holds their own professionally printed book for the first time. They don't just see an assignment. They see themselves as a writer.
Something Shifts When Their Story Matters
Every kid has a story they want to share.
They want to feel seen and heard, and they want room to be creative, honest, and vulnerable without it being about a grade.
I've seen the shift that happens when students finish writing, when they share their story, when they hold their own book, and when they see their work published.
It becomes theirs.
Why I Built EmpowerLit Schools
I kept asking myself one question: I'm only one person. How can I bring this experience to more students and more schools?
That question became the foundation for EmpowerLit Schools.
I wanted to take what I'd learned from years of visiting schools and working directly with students and turn it into something teachers could bring into their own classrooms: one connected platform bringing together writing, student voice, SEL, belonging, confidence, and publishing.
Students aren't only writing to complete an assignment. They're developing ideas, telling their stories, hearing others' perspectives, and writing for a real audience. And teachers don't have to build the experience from scratch.
That's why I created EmpowerLit Schools: to give teachers the tools to build stronger writers while helping students discover that their voice and their story matter.