Our Vision
As a crime reporter in New York City, Emily Palmer often arrived at the scene of heartbreak— covering stories of kids lost to violence or pulled into the justice system. Over time, it felt like she was telling the same story on repeat. She founded Next PAGE to interrupt that pattern, putting the pen in the hands of incarcerated youth so they can learn to tell their own stories and imagine better ones. Her goal: to use storytelling as a tool for literacy, healing, and long-term reentry.
Dr. Curtis Lewis, founder of Boldly Moving Education Ahead and Acting Chair of the Next PAGE Advisory Board, has spent two decades transforming classrooms in New York, Chicago, and Detroit through culturally responsive teaching and trauma-informed care. His work is deeply personal. After losing his best friend to a preventable act of violence, Curtis dedicated his career to building systems that offer healing and second chances. At Next PAGE, he helps shape a curriculum grounded in the belief that education is a right— one that must reach all kids, including those behind bars.
Our Mission
Next PAGE is a literacy nonprofit providing trauma-informed creative writing workshops to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth in New York City.
We create safe, supportive spaces for young people to build community, process their experiences, and develop the tools to take agency over their own stories. By fostering a love of storytelling and creative expression, we aim to redress the deeply concerning literacy rates among youth in detention.
Our program is designed in collaboration with Boldly Moving Education Ahead and child-trauma experts, and is grounded in restorative and arts-based pedagogy. Sessions support self-expression, build communication skills, and help participants envision futures beyond their current circumstances.
The workshop curriculum is refined through student feedback and input from our Advisory Board, empowering participants to shape the program as they move through it. Guest artists — including award-winning writers and musicians — collaborate with students to inspire new ways of telling stories.
Select student work is published in an edited zine and later compiled in a professional coffee table collection, with royalties split between student-authors. With a focus on education as a tool for reentry, Next PAGE meets young people where they are— and helps them decide where they’re going.
Opus 1 Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 84-4029712), serves as the fiscal sponsor for the Next PAGE program, providing fiduciary oversight and enabling tax-deductible contributions to the program.
