our team

Leadership

Kaitlyn Bai

Director

Kaitlyn Bai is a writer and student from Seattle, Washington. She is a 2026 YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Fiction, a Scholastic Gold Medalist and Best-in-Grade Award recipient, and a Seattle Youth Poetry Fellow. She serves as a Senior Prose Editor at Afterbodies and a Prose Reader at Eucalyptus Lit. When not writing, Kaitlyn is drawing, reading, or listening to the Seattle rain.

Nehal Joshi

Director

Nehal Joshi is a writer and student from Seattle, Washington. She is the author of a published novel, and her writing has been recognized by the Alliance of Young Writers and Artists. In addition to writing fiction, she is a published essayist and blog writer. Outside of writing, she enjoys reading, tennis, exploring math, and debate.

Isabelle Li

Director

Isabelle Li is a student poet from the Greater Seattle area. Her work has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and Seattle Arts & Lectures, among others. An alumna of the Iowa Young Writers Studio and the Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program, she serves as an Executive Editor for Polyphony Lit. Beyond writing and reading, she is passionate about flute, history, and visual arts.

Staff

Kylie Zhang

Kylie Zhang is a writer and student from the Seattle metropolitan area. She is a 2026 New York Times Summer Reading Contest winner, a runner-up in the 2025 New York Times Summer Reading Contest, and holds Scholastic Silver Keys in poetry. Besides writing, she enjoys competitive chess, debate, and tennis.

Danielle Bar

Danielle Bar is a writer and student from the Greater Seattle area. She writes across a variety of forms, with a particular interest in poetry. In 2026, she was the Washington HOSA State Champion in Extemporaneous Writing. Danielle also enjoys working with younger students, having served for three years as an Assistant Teacher with the Science is Weird online education program, for two years as an Assistant Dance Teacher at Gotta Dance, and as a math tutor at Interlake High School. Beyond writing, she is passionate about dance, reading, and science.

Juliana Pan

Juliana Pan is a poet, writer, and visual artist from Bellevue. She has received the Foyle Young Poets Award from the Poetry Society of the United Kingdom and a Silver Medal for Poetry from the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and her recent work has appeared in Gigantic Sequins, Roanoke Review, and the minnesota review. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and loves her grandma’s cooking.

Maxi Pierce

Maxi Pierce is a designer and professional writer from Seattle, Washington. With a degree in English Creative Writing from Western Washington University and a background in writing assistance, Maxi loves to guide students through the writing process. Her art, poetry, and multimedia work was published in the Palouse Review Spring 2025 Edition, and she is a finalist for the Bellingham Review 2026 Fiction Contest. Currently, Maxi volunteers as a Grant Writer at Growing Veterans and a Reader at West Trade Review.

Tairah Olaniyan

Tairah Olaniyan is a writer and student from Bothell, Washington. She writes for her Substack publication, “Nicheless”, where she posts poetry and short fiction. Outside of writing, she is a National Champion and People’s Choice Winner in the 2026 K12 Innovation Challenge. Currently, Tairah serves as a marketing intern for the nonprofit building-U, with an interest in pursuing marketing as a career.

Join Our Team

The Inkroot Project was founded by young writers, for young writers. Our team is dedicated and passionate about providing fun, collaborative creative writing instruction for students across the Puget Sound.

Staff applications are currently open. Visit the “Join Now” page if you’re a student or young writer interesting in joining our team.

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