By Marcelle Greene, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator Emeritus
Carmel O’Mara-Horwitz & Cassandra Federman
Whether you’ve thought of mentoring, or dreamed of having a mentor – this year’s mentorship team demonstrates how a seasoned professional working with a promising newcomer benefits everyone involved.
Mentor Carmel-O’Mara Horwitz started working with selected mentee, illustrator Cassandra Federman, on May 1st, and they set an ambitious goal: improve Cassandra’s portfolio, including the creation of a new piece, and update her website before the SCBWI Summer Conference. They had two months and six days. Continue reading
Here’s what Sally Jones Rogan, SCBWI-LA co-regional advisor, said when presenting the award: 
Having a published mentor who helps you improve your work could be the greatest gift you receive on your path to publication. Through its Mentor Program, SCBWI-L.A. has offered this gift to three members in the past two years, and is now running a contest for a 2017 illustration mentorship. (
Winning the 2015 mentorship changed illustrator Matthew Rivera’s goals. “Writing my own stories to illustrate wasn’t something I considered before the mentorship,” Rivera says. But mentor 
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Long-time SCBWI member 
Ever wonder what happens to the manuscripts that win first place in SCBWI-L.A.’s writing contests? We did. As the contest for 
Kite Tales 