Kidizenship is a non-partisan, non-profit media platform for tweens and teens that reaches beyond the classroom, merging civics education with creative self-expression and community action. Kidizenship will convene respectful conversations and publish powerful content by and for young people about building a brighter future and an inclusive, just, and sustainable democracy.  

Kidizenship is where citizens come of age. 

Meet the Team

 
unnamed-1.jpg

Amanda Little is our Founder and Director. She is a journalism professor at Vanderbilt University and is the author of The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World. Amanda is an op-ed contributor for Bloomberg and has written for Rolling Stone, Wired, The New York Times, and elsewhere. Her recent TED talk has 1.5+ million views. She has appeared on media outlets including NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, MSNBC's Morning Joe, and CNN with Fareed Zakaria. Amanda dreamed up Kidizenship with the help of her kids, Aria and Nico, ages 12 and 9, and her friend, Alice Randall.

 
 
ARphoto.png

Alice Randall is our Creative Advisor. She is a New York Times best selling author and a Professor and Writer-in-Residence in the Department of African-American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt. Her current novel is Black Bottom Saints and it is set in a 20th Motown citizenship academy that masquerades as a Detroit dance school. She holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an Honorary Doctorate from Fisk University. With her daughter the poet Caroline Randall Williams she has co-authored two award-winning volumes B.B. Bright, Possible Princess and Soul Food Love.


Marisa Frank is our Director of Outreach and Contests. A music educator, choral director, and songwriter specializing in children's music, Marisa was named one of 10 finalists nationwide for Grammy Educator of the Year in 2023. Her work with children has been featured by the Recording Academy and honored by the Tennessee State Legislature and the Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County. Additionally, her original works have been performed under her direction at the Nashville Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

drphoto5.png

Drew Rollo is our Director of Design. Drew is a freelance graphic artist who designs film posters, editorial illustrations, and screenprints.

 
 
frejya.jpg

Freyja Balmer is our Digital Advisor. She is VP of Product at New York Public Radio, which powers The Gothamist, WNYC, WQXR, and the many podcasts created by WNYC Studios, including The United States of Anxiety, On the Media, and Radiolab. She also represents NYPR in several digital efforts spanning the Public Media ecosystem. She is a longtime digital collaborator with content creators of all stripes. Her children are 16, 12, and 8.

 
BEcca.jpg

Becca Richardson is our Web Guru. She is a freelance web designer with experience as a product strategist at YouTube and community builder at Nextdoor.