ASJA Student Membership Initiative Needs Volunteers for October Pitch Clinic and Speaker Bureau
After years of discussion, ASJA is adding student memberships. The new memberships are open both to individual students and educational institutions that wish to help give their students a leg up in their careers.
Student membership serves two purposes. They benefit students who are interested in becoming independent writers. And they infuse ASJA with new energy, enthusiasm, and experiences that will help the organization continue to grow and thrive well into the future.
The ASJA student membership task force is doing two things to maximize the new memberships’ benefits to students, higher ed institutions, and existing members. One is hosting twice-yearly student pitch clinics. The other is launching a new speakers bureau, where ASJA members can volunteer to speak to higher ed student groups. We need your help for both.
Read on to find out more and how you can help, then use this form to apply.
Info on Student Pitch Clinics and How You Can Help
In the student pitch clinic virtual sessions, students interact with, and learn from, experienced ASJA members. The first student pitch clinic takes place Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. Eastern time, and ASJA members are needed to act as mentors and to review pitches.The time commitment includes panel prep time plus an hour for the event.
The student pitch clinics will work much like the pitch clinic that was part of the 2025 ASJA conference at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. The session will start with a small panel of ASJA members sharing brief details about their career paths and expertise. The ASJA members then will meet one-on-one or in small groups with students, who will come prepared with a pitch for an article or other content, or a completed work of up to 1,000 words. ASJA member mentors will critique the pitch or completed work and make suggestions for improvements and possible outlets to pitch it to. ASJA members who are professional, associate, or retired members can participate in the October pitch clinic or future events. Use this form to sign up.
ASJA members who participated in the student pitch clinic at the 2025 in-person conference said they enjoyed it as much as the students. Simply put, it was fun! It’s almost impossible to not be inspired by students’ enthusiasm, and working with young writers can remind you why you chose this profession to begin with. Such interactions can change your perspective and can result in seeing things in new ways. Acting as an editor and having to explain why something isn’t working may even help you solve some of your own writing struggles.
Another big plus? Talking to upcoming writers exposes you to new topics important to the younger generation, and potentially new markets. Gen Z is the most diverse group yet: nearly half (48%) are from underrepresented racial or ethnic backgrounds, 28% identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and another 51% report having learning and thinking differences. It certainly can’t hurt to share the same background as students you engage with, but you don’t have to in order to be effective. In fact, studies show that in mixed-generation environments, the learning goes both ways.
Info on ASJA Speakers Bureau and How You Can Help.
The student membership task force is also looking for ASJA members to participate in a new ASJA speakers bureau, which will serve as a guest speaker directory for colleges and universities that sign up for ASJA’s new collegiate membership.
Members who volunteer to be part of the speakers bureau should be prepared to discuss topics related to some aspect of freelance writing and provide a class handout for their talk. Volunteers must commit to at least one prep call with a school prior to their appearance. Otherwise, the time commitment varies depending on the engagement.
Volunteering for the speakers bureau offers members the opportunity to share their experience and knowledge, and to enhance their speaking skills. Although the initial need is to provide guest speakers for virtual college classroom discussions, we envision expanding the program in the future to include webinars and other ASJA events. Use this form to sign up.
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Kimberly Yavorski is a co-chair of the 2027 ASJA virtual conference. She continues to resist niching down because she wants to learn, and write, about everything. Common topics she writes about include parenting, education, finance, careers, technology, history, science, social issues and travel, with bylines in The Hill, Next Avenue, Vox, Fodor’s, and many others. She loves being outdoors and often manages to sneak in a hike of some kind on family vacations, almost always with a camera in tow.