# Elena Favilli

> Elena Favilli is an Italian-American author, journalist and co-founder and original CEO of Rebel Girls. With Francesca Cavallo, she co-created Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, launched through crowdfunding in 2016. Based in Brooklyn, she continues to write and speak about women’s stories and representation.

- **Role:** Co-founder and author at Rebel Girls
- **Organizations:** Rebel Girls, Timbuktu Labs
- **From:** Montevarchi, Italy
- **Nationality:** Italian-American
- **Education:** MA in Semiotics, University of Bologna, One-year scholarship in the Department of Rhetoric, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-created the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series., The original book’s combined Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdfunding exceeded $1.2 million by the total reported in 2018., Joint recipient of Publishers Weekly Star Watch Superstars, 2018.

## Career timeline

- **2006** — Studied at UC Berkeley on a one-year scholarship.
- **2011** — Created Timbuktu, an iPad magazine for children, with Francesca Cavallo.
- **2012** — Moved to San Francisco to develop Timbuktu Labs.
- **2015** — Tested stories of women through a newsletter before launching the book.
- **2016** — Co-authored and published Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls; Kickstarter raised $675,614 from 13,454 backers.
- **2018** — Received the Publishers Weekly Star Watch Superstars award with Francesca Cavallo.
- **2020** — Published 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World on October 13.
- **2025** — Wrote 22 new stories for an expanded edition of the original book.
- **2026** — Her Tuscan home and artist residency appeared in the March issue of Vogue Italia.

## Achievements

- Co-created the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series.
- The original book’s combined Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdfunding exceeded $1.2 million by the total reported in 2018.
- Joint recipient of Publishers Weekly Star Watch Superstars, 2018.
- The 2025 DK listing reports the original book available in 50 languages and more than 110 countries.
- Created the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls podcast, recognized with Webby and Signal awards.

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — The expanded Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls edition includes 22 new stories written by Favilli.
- **2026-03** — Vogue Italia featured her Tuscan home, which also serves as an artist residency.

## Links

- Website: https://www.elenafavilli.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-favilli/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/efavilli
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elenafavilli/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/elena-favilli
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-14