Sarah Katherine Eder

Shorewood, WI | 17

2017 Award Recipient

Katie Eder’s commitment to sharing her passion for creative writing with other youth led her to teach a week-long creative writing workshop at a local community center. At the end of the week, a shy girl named Alana told Katie that her workshop had been the first time since her parents’ divorce that she’d been able to express herself freely. That moment led Katie to found Kids Tales. Designed to teach underprivileged kids creative writing skills, the organization has grown from eighteen students in one community to a global non-profit with hundreds of teens teaching more than 1,000 children across the globe, including in a refugee camp in Hungary. Each week-long Kids Tales workshop is teen-led and teaches groups of 8- to 12-year-old kids how to compose and publish their own short stories, which are later anthologized and sold on Amazon.com. A leader in social entrepreneurship, Katie has been recognized for her work with Kids Tales by organizations including: The Malala Fund, Ashoka Youth Venturer & Changemaker, Youth Service America’s Everyday Young Hero, United Nations’ Nexus Global Youth Summit, and the International Literacy Association’s 30 Under 30 Award.