Lila Nordstrom

Lila Nordstrom is a writer, producer, activist, and the founder of StuyHealth, an advocacy group representing former students who were in lower Manhattan during 9/11 and the resulting cleanup. She has worked with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to raise awareness for the health programs in place to support 9/11 survivors; was appointed to the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program’s Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee, where she served three terms between 2013 and 2019; served on the WTC Survivors Steering Committee; and has organized lobbying trips to Washington, DC, to share the student 9/11 story with members of Congress.

In June 2019, Lila testified before the House Judiciary Committee on behalf of the estimated three hundred thousand NYC community members eligible for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, and in December 2019 she was awarded New York City’s Bronze Medallion, New York City’s highest civic honor, given by the mayor. Under Lila's direction, StuyHealth has received a wealth of media from local, national, and international outlets, including the New York Times, Economist, CBS, Fox, and NBC. A graduate of Stuyvesant High School and Vassar College, Lila’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, Huffington Post, Bustle, Pasadena Weekly, Yahoo News, the New York Daily News, and other outlets. In 2011, she won a Content of the Year Award from Yahoo! for a 9/11 tenth anniversary essay she wrote for the site. In 2020, she was named a Fellow by the Equality California Institute Leadership Academy. Lila is also the cofounder of VoteCaptain.org, a nonpartisan voter education site, and the producer and host of Brain Trust Live, a weekly independent political podcast started in 2012. She has worked in film and television production and development for fifteen years. Originally from New York City, Lila now lives in Los Angeles, California.

RABBIT HOLES (Essay Collection)

Rabbit Holes is a reflective, genre-blending book about a woman in early middle age grappling with ADHD, post-pandemic identity, and life lived off the conventional path, who comes to see her intense, fleeting internet obsessions not as failures of focus but as a survival strategy and a form of meaning-making. Through humorous, self-aware deep dives into seemingly trivial online fixations, the book reframes “rabbit holes” as a subconscious archive of women’s off-path lives—stories of women with agency who defy social, political, and cultural expectations. As the author navigates medicated normalcy, loneliness outside traditional milestones, and the absence of clear narratives for women who opt out (or fall out) of the standard life script, she discovers that her obsessions have been quietly guiding her toward alternative models of worth, pleasure, and power. The book ultimately invites readers to question what focus, productivity, and a “life well lived” really mean, and to find wisdom, joy, and legitimacy in the stories—and lives—that unfold beyond the official path.

Rights Available: All
Agent: Zeynep Sen