Author and Literacy Advocate Melissa Williams Murphy empowers creativity inside the home and classroom, leading our future generation to reach their creative potential without becoming dependent on technology. For the past 15 years, Melissa has presented to students in over 250 schools and built her entire career on listening to kids. Through her own experiences as a writer, publisher and founder of the iWRITE Literacy Non-Profit, her focus on character development and thinking like the audience has been utilized in her workshops and presentations. Melissa’s professional training in psychology and counseling is the foundation to her program framework, giving educators and parents the tools they need to get on the level of a child in order to enhance self-motivation and confidence through literacy.

Melissa’s workshops dive even deeper into the psychology of creating and visioning through association techniques and creative writing activities. Whether it be a lesson plan, a character or a story, she gives children and adults the tools they need to pull from their own inner-child and empowers educators and parents to think like a kid! Many of Melissa’s workshops are ideal for Educator Staff Development.

Melissa is a recognizable name in Houston media. Among her many accolades she was named the Chronicle’s “It Girl” and a CW’s NewsFix “Superwoman.” She has been recognized in the Houston community as a Houston Sweetheart, Social Book Houston Treasure Honoree, and a LCA  Houston International Mother’s Day Honoree. Her organization is also known for breaking the Guinness World Record for the Largest Published Book in the World called, “I Am Texas.”