Who “owns” the stories that we tell? And what does ethical storytelling look like in the international development sector?

On March 15th, the Simmons Center for Global Chicago — a Chicago-based collective connecting globally active NGOs, activists, artists, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, and community partners — will host Ethics and Impact of Storytelling in Global Engagement, its first-ever community symposium.

During this interactive, half day symposium moderated by guest speakers Kathy K. Im of MacArthur Foundation and Nissa Rhee of Borderless Magazine we will explore why impactful storytelling is challenging in the international development sector, how our values are reflected in our storytelling choices, why balancing truth and hope is critical to impactful, respectful storytelling, and who owns the rights to images and stories, among other topics. Symposium panelists include Jennifer Torres of Children’s Place International, Radhika Sharma Gordono of Apna Ghar, Harriet Spears of Women’s Global Education Project, Connor Mautner of Chicago Refugee Coalition, Bora Un of ArtsWork Projects, and Anne K. Ream of The Voices and Faces Project. 

A series of interactive breakout sessions moderated by Simmons Center partners will allow symposium participants to “dig deeper” into issues most relevant to their own organizations, while sharing their experiences and perspectives on storytelling in the global development sector. 

As a proud Simmons Center partner, we can’t wait to see where these conversations take us. See you at the Simmons Center on March 15th!

On March 24th, take part in Testimony & Strategic Storytelling, a Voices and Faces Project workshop for educators, advocates and direct service providers.

The Voices and Faces Project is bringing Creating Change: Testimony and Strategic Storytelling to the Center for Justice and Reconciliation at Point Loma Nazarene University on March 24, 2023. Through generous support from the Van Otterloo Family Foundation, and in partnership with USC's Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, we developed this workshop for educators and advocates who seek to focus on best practices in generating and sharing testimony, think about the role of testimony in educating the public on social justice, and incorporate testimony and storytelling into teaching methodology and practices across disciplines. 

Workshop participants will discuss examples of testimonial writing, engage in real-time writing exercises, reflect on their own stories as educators, and participate in seminar-style conversations about how to use story as a vehicle for personal and political change.

Please email janet@voicesandfaces.org for more information.