Lynn Harris

Lynn Harris is a feminist entrepreneur, journalist, essayist, author, and comedian who lives in Brooklyn, NY. Currently, Harris is the founder of GOLD Comedy,[1] "an early stage startup giving girls and women the tools to find their funny and the places to share it with the world."

For the American author, see E. Lynn Harris.

She is the former Vice President, Communications at Breakthrough, a global human rights organization that uses media and pop culture to inspire people to take action for gender equality. Harris is also co-creator, with Chris Kalb, of the website BreakupGirl.net. She is also a founder of Persisticon[2], a Brooklyn-based group that organizes comedy and art fundraisers for EMILY’s List and other organizations working to elect women.

GOLD Comedy

In early 2016, Harris founded GOLD Comedy, a mission-driven for-profit that provides teen girls and women comedy skills.[3]GOLD Comedy currently offers online courses (www.goldcomedy.com/online-course).

An Indiegogo campaign for a pilot series was 173% funded in 72 hours.[4] Between September 2016 and March 2017, GOLD Comedy ran a sold-out pilot workshop series for teen girls.[5] GOLD Comedy has been featured in numerous news outlets including NY Magazine.[6]

GOLD offers online content and an online course.

Writing

Harris has been a contributing writer for Salon.com[7] and a contributing editor at Glamour Magazine.[8] Her freelance journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times,[9] Nerve.com,[10] NPR.org,[11] and The Washington Post.[12] She wrote the “Rabbi’s Wife” column for the former Nextbook.org. She is also the dating advice columnist for MSN.com.

Harris’ writing focuses on gender, health, politics, relationships, and culture and has inspired large impact. Her essay in Salon on female genital mutilation (“Our Daughters Should Not Be Cut”[13]) was a recipient of a 2010 Planned Parenthood Maggie Award for online reporting[14], and it encouraged U.S. Reps Joseph Crowley and Mary Bono Mack to introduce The Girls’ Protection Act[15] to make it a federal crime to transport a minor outside the United States for the purpose of female genital mutilation. "The Hidden World of Dating Violence", her 1996 cover story in PARADE Magazine, broke the term “dating violence” into the mainstream. In the two weeks after the article ran, calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline doubled. One of Harris’ articles for Glamour – “They’re Autistic, and They’re in Love”[16] - won a Mental Health America Media Award. Another piece for Glamour, “Could You Get Hooked On These Pills?” won a Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Award.

Harris is also the author of two novels and three nonfiction books. Her most recent title is Death By Chick Lit (2007).[17] The novel’s prequel, Miss Media, was published in 2003.[18]

As a mentor-editor with The OpEd Project, Harris works with emerging female op-ed writers, offering feedback needed to improve their work and amplify women's voices in media.[19]

Breakup Girl

Harris is the co-creator, with Chris Kalb, of Breakup Girl, a character that debuted in her 1996 book He Loved Me, He Loves Me Not: A Guide to Fudge, Fury, Free Time, and Life Beyond the Breakup. (Avon) which she wrote and Chris Kalb illustrated.[20] The character expanded into an online presence in 1997. BreakupGirl.net includes an advice column and comics/animations by and about the superhero known as "Breakup Girl" who says her role "is to fight crimes of the heart, stop dating indignities, get your stuff back, help you help your mom through your breakup, and make good relationships great."[21]

The print adventures of Breakup Girl continued in 2000 with Harris' Breakup Girl to the Rescue! A Superhero's Guide to Love, and Lack Thereof (Back Bay Books), which also was illustrated by Chris Kalb.[22]

Communications and Advocacy

Harris began her position as Communications Strategist with Breakthrough in March 2011.[23] Breakthrough describes its mission as "a global human rights organization that uses the power of media, pop culture, and community mobilization to inspire people to take bold action for dignity, equality, and justice." It is based in India and the United States, and particularly focuses on gender-based violence, and issues relating to sexuality, HIV/AIDS, immigration, and racial justice.

She is also the former public relations director of the Boston chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Performance

A former stand-up comic, Harris co-wrote and co-starred with Betsy Fast in the Off-Off Broadway production of "Lynn Harris on Ice."[24] Directed by Jim Gaylord, the production was promoted as featuring "cautionary campfire tales about snow sports, skating scandals, dotcom meltdowns, fellas with cold feet, and parents numb with worry." Harris also performed[25] as a standup comic and storyteller for many years, and in her early twenties she was "discovered[26]" as a Tonya Harding look-alike and made numerous TV and radio appearances.

Personal Life

Harris married[27] Rabbi Dean David Adelson in 2003. They have two children, Bess and Sam[28].

References
  1. "GOLD - GOLD Comedy". GOLD Comedy. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  2. Goldman, Halli (2018-03-26). "The Future is Female! Persisticon Event Brought Comedy, Art, Music and Electing Women Together at Brooklyn Bell House". The Interrobang. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  3. "GOLD - GOLD Comedy". GOLD Comedy. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  4. "GOLD #COMEDYFORGIRLS Help fund free workshops!". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  5. "Workshops - GOLD Comedy". GOLD Comedy. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  6. Mahdawi, Arwa. "Meet the Teen Girls Training to Be the Next Tina Fey". The Cut. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  7. "Lynn Harris." Salon. http://dir.salon.com/topics/lynn_harris/ Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  8. Lynn Harris bio. "They're Autistic, and They're in Love." Glamour. http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2009/02/theyre-autistic-and-theyre-in-love?currentPage=4 Retrieved February 28, 2011
  9. Harris, Lynn. (August 10, 2007). "On the Roof, a Weaning from Weeding." The New York Times. http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/travel/escapes/10ritual.html Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  10. Harris, Lynn. "Firestarters." Nerve.com http://www.nerve.com/screeningroom/tv/torchwood Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  11. Harris, Lynn. (April 15, 2009) "Bottle or Breast: Which is Best? NPR.org https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102361013 Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  12. Harris, Lynn. (July 21, 2009) "The Stork is Dead." The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072102755.html Retrieved February 28, 2011
  13. Harris, Lynn. (January 24, 2010). "Our Daughters Should Not Be Cut." Salon. http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/01/24/fgm_in_america/index.html Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  14. "PPFA Maggie Awards for Media Excellence." Planned Parenthood. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/politics-policy-issues/ppfa-maggie-awards-10047.htm Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  15. "Saving girls from being cut". Salon. 2010-04-27. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  16. Harris, Lynn. "They're Autistic, and They're in Love." Glamour. http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2009/02/theyre-autistic-and-theyre-in-love Retrieved February 28, 2011
  17. Stadtmiller, Mandy. (August 19, 2007). "Writer's Mock: In Wittiness and 'Death' Author Pokes Fun at Chick Lit" New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/item_Kn4SGXe1gb0ja4h3I7eDqL Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  18. "Miss Media: A Novel." Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/dp/059528776X Retrieved February 29, 2011.
  19. "Mentor-Editors." The OpEd Project. http://www.theopedproject.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97&Itemid=96 Retrieved March 6, 2011
  20. "History." BreakupGirl.net. http://www.breakupgirl.net/friends/history.html Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  21. "Introduction." BreakupGirl.net. http://www.breakupgirl.net/friends/ Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  22. "Breakup Girl to the Rescue!: A Superhero's Guide to Love, and Lack Thereof " Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316340618/ Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  23. "Breakthrough: Staff" http://www.breakthrough.tv/about-us/staff#usa Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  24. "Lynn Harris on Ice Tickets and Information." http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/shows/lynn-harris-on-ice_16363/ Retrieved February 6, 2011
  25. "Lynn Harris". www.lynnharris.net. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  26. Harris, Lynn (2014-02-07). "I Was a Tonya Harding Look-Alike". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  27. Quealy, Gerit (2003-11-23). "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS: VOWS; Lynn Harris and David Adelson". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  28. "Biography « Lynn Harris". www.lynnharris.net. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
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