Marjorie Schwartz Nielsen began her professional career at the Nickelodeon Network producing non-fiction television for teenagers, and has been working with and writing for young audiences ever since. After associate producing documentaries for WNET and KCET, she spent the next 20 years writing feature films and original made-for-cable movies, and was a nominee for a Humanitas Prize. Nielsen has worked with at-risk youth, starting with School on Wheels in Los Angeles missions and shelters, and created programs for Hollygrove Family Services, a non-residential facility for foster youth and Art Division, a non-profit art school providing free classes, literacy programs and resources for underserved youth in the Rampart district of Los Angeles.