Ms. Liz Gerber

Passionate about mathematics, poetry and writing from an early age, Ms. Gerber found great success in both academic disciplines. Being only able to pursue one major, Ms. Gerber earned her Bachelors of Arts in English from the University of Mary Washington. There she was also an intercollegiate athlete on the track and cross-country teams and was co-Editor-in-Chief of her on-campus literary magazine. Upon graduating with her degree in English, Ms. Gerber knew her passion for literature would not stop there. She continued her studies and earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry from George Mason University. There she volunteered for the school’s annual week-long literary festival, Fall for the Book. In addition, she held an academic internship in the Library of Congress’s Poetry & Literature Center, home of the U.S. Poet Laureate. Her love of poetry stems from the depth that can be derived from the power of putting the words together into a poetic composition.

Ms. Gerber pursued a career in publications at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), a national non-profit organization whose mission resonates with Ms. Gerber to the core: “to foster literary achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing.” AWP also holds the largest annual literary conference in North America, attracting nearly 16,000 writers, educators and students alike.

Ms. Gerber coupled her writing skills with her passion for the arts and education by working as a fundraising professional for Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure every American has access to the arts. At Americans for the Arts, Ms. Gerber worked on partnerships with corporations like American Girl and VANS to provide grants to public school arts programs.

After spending the past decade working for literary and arts organizations in the Washington, DC, area, Ms. Gerber is excited to begin the next chapter of her career in the Bay Area where she is currently in the process of obtaining California’s secondary education teaching credential. She has spent the past year partnering as a teacher at a local high school in San Francisco and is looking forward to sharing her love for poetry, literature, and writing to the students at Mill Creek Academy.

In her free time, she reads and writes in every genre. Her poems have recently appeared in Crab Orchard Review, The Greensboro Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, RHINO, and other reputable publications. Still an avid runner, Ms. Gerber most recently ran the Zurich Marathon in Barcelona, Spain in 2015. She is continuously challenged by San Francisco’s steep hills!