Meet the Team
Clarissa Beyah
President of the Board, Founder
Clarissa Beyah is a communications executive, educator, and non-profit founder. Currently
a Professor of Professional Practice of Journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg school, she helps leaders, students and organizations use strategic communications to transcend. An educator with a track record for engaging and empowering youth, Clarissa founded the Writer’s Block Ink to help at-risk youth ignite social change on the page and stage.
She is a member of the Arthur Page Society, PRSA, IABC and Leadership Greater
Washington. She has a BA in English from Rowan University and an MBA in Strategic
Management from the University of New Haven. She is married with three children, and enjoys travelling, writing and hiking.
Cecilia Rose Dillon has her Bachelor's in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago, where she served as an editor for the school’s literary magazine, Allium. She is additionally the co-creator and host of the podcast Tubi or Not Tubi, where she has the privilege of interviewing and analyzing ultra independent film alongside her co-hosts.
A resident of Chicago, Cecilia spends her time writing, foraging, and caring for her many, many fur-children alongside her two partners. Her work has been published in Allium and Mulberry Literary, prior to taking up an editorial role with both publications.
Cecilia Rose Dillon
Executive Director
Ellen Dillon
Treasurer
Ellen Dillon is a retired academic, having spent 35 years working in the realm of higher education. Ellen studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and holds a master’s degree in Theatre from the University of Missouri-Columbia. During 2001-2004, Ellen traveled internationally as Mama Clown with Patch Adams’ Gesundheit! Institute's good humor clowns. They visited children of all ages in the streets, orphanages, hospitals, and residential facilities of Russia, Siberia, Jamaica, China, and Tibet. Throughout it all, there was acting.
Ellen has performed in university, regional, and professional theatres around the country. Ellen’s father, an accountant, encouraged her to include accounting in her coursework at college so she could always support herself. She did and has put the knowledge to good use both in her work life and in her active support of various organizations such as Writers Block Ink.
Quinn Lee has been a member of Writer’s Block since 2016. Their years of participation helped develop their creative interests as well as ignite an interest in education so that they can provide the same safe creative space to others that they thrived in as a younger person. Today they are a passionate writer, dancer, and artist, currently a student at Pace University where they are studying adolescent education with an English concentration and a creative writing minor.
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Quinn Lee
Program Director
Elizmarie Pena was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She goes by Lissy for short. Lissy was a student at Florida Institute of Technology, where achieved an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration. Elizmarie got her GED in the state of Connecticut in 2014. She is a wife and mother of three. Her daughter, Jey’Analis is 8, her son, Jared is 3 and her other son Jaydrian is 7 months.
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She joined Writer’s Block back in June of 2025 as the Admin Coordinator.
Elizmarie Peña
Administrative Coordinator
Julianna Hagwood is a new member of the Writers Block Ink team with a background in stage management. She is also very passionate about LGBTQ+ rights and mental health awareness and hopes to continue her education by majoring in gender and sexuality studies.
Julianna Hagwood
Summer Program Instructor
Ísiah Allgood is a creative entrepreneur, photographer, and event organizer based in Southeastern Connecticut. He is the founder of Allgood Studios & Gallery, where they combines photography, videography, graphic design, music, art, and storytelling to bring ideas to life. Whether he’s creating content, planning events, or working with local businesses and artists, Ísiah loves building experiences that help people feel connected and inspired.
Ísiah Allgood
Summer Program Instructor
Kae Johnston is a queer writer and editor based out of Chicago. They hold a BA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago and are an MFA candidate at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They have been a production, junior, and senior acquisition editor for the Columbia Poetry Review and a production and assistant-managing editor for Hair Trigger Magazine.
Kae has works as a Creative Writing instructor with Writer’s Block Ink since 2025. Their work has appeared in FNews, Bodega Magazine, Oyster River Pages, and Lavender Review, among others. You can learn more about them on their website.
Kae Johnston
Creative Writing Instructor
Advisory Board & Strategic Advisors
Clarissa Beyah (FOUNDER) John Wilson Christiana Alagbe Kate Robins
Alissa Mebus Theresa Broach Govind Menon Linda Ferraro
Legal Counsel