Hi, I’m Taylor

I’m a children’s author and, in many ways, a social architect who loves creating opportunities for people to connect, feel a sense of belonging, and participate in impacting their community.

Based in Santa Cruz, CA, my work invites people into stories and moves them through connected experiences across books, community projects, and shared public spaces.

Santa Cruz GReen Exchange

Care for the river &
Earn value downtown

Santa Cruz Green Exchange (SCGX)
SCGX is a coordination effort the connects to the goods and services from local business to increase scale and impact of volunteer work in Santa Cruz.

Working with its local community, the SCGX pools the goods and services from local businesses in a stored units of value like Downtown Dollars or gift cards to reward volunteer work projects.

SCGX partnered across 20+ community partners to cleanup a green space all of them shared—the San Lorenzo River. To each of these partners, if the river is clean and healthy, it’s good for the quality of life of residents, businesses, and visitors.

On April 11 and May 9, SCGX partnered with two cleanups — BTG × SCGX and Tri-Area San Lorenzo Cleanup. These events organized 131 volunteers to collect 640+ lbs of litter from the river and rewarded up to $2700 to be spent in local businesses.

The SCGX Program Design & Impact Report is coming Summer 2026.

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WHAT I’M UP TO

Locally ↔ Globally
Current Work, Upcoming Moves

Here’s what’s taking shape—book readings, projects, talks, and new experiments and more.

Some public, some behind the scenes, all part of what I’m building next.

Interested in working together?

I am available for book events, community projects, workshops, or new collaborations.

Offerings

Library visit at Live Oak Elementary

Class visit at Bright Beginnings in Kilifi, Kenya

Assembly at Rio Del Mar Elementary

Author Visits

For educators looking to inspire their students, I offer author visits for schools in Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay Area, and San Francisco Bay Area. These events include reading Câmbio, sharing about the creating the story and becoming an author, and Q&A.

Media

Latest videos, audio, & press

How a Children’s Book Sparked a New Kind of River Cleanup
Published April 1, 2026

See entire media archive

Connect

Contact Me

Message me here or email hello(at)taylorlahey.com

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