Melissa Marie Williams

Melissa Williams is a Literacy Expert, the Author of twelve books, News Contributor and the Founding CEO of the iWRITE Literacy Organization, which inspires youth to write and gives children the opportunity to become published authors. For the past ten years, Melissa has been working with school districts and organizations, spreading a love for learning inside schools and homes through her books and character development exercises for kids. Melissa has presented to students in over 200 schools and built her entire career on listening to the creative needs of children. Melissa’s professional training in psychology and counseling is the foundation to her program framework – giving educators and parents the tools they need to get on the level of a child in order to enhance self-motivation and confidence through literacy. Melissa found a way to use the genre of realistic fiction with animals to address themes of diversity, peer pressure, family relationships and modeling behavior in a way elementary aged kids would understand. After working with thousands of students in schools and kid focus groups, she continued to hear the same question: Can kids be authors too? That question led her to start the professional publishing contest called, I Write Short Stories by Kids for Kids at the iWRITE Literacy Organization. Her latest programs revolve around the “i” The Guy character found inside the pages of a creative writing journal for kids aimed to create a positive association to writing. Melissa has been a correspondent for multiple news outlets, including ABC, FOX, KPRC and KHOU speaking on the need to balance literacy and the use of technology during the childhood years. For more information, follow her social media handles at MelissaAuthor and MelissaMWilliamsLiteracy.