Ethical Storytelling

On today’s Storyteller Ethical Storytelling Podcast, we sit down with Benjamin Edwards, storyteller and educator based our of Bend, Oregon. Ben describes humanitarian work as his ‘soul work’ and shares how he learned the importance of giving more than you take. To listen to more, visit our Podcast page.

On today’s Storyteller Ethical Storytelling Podcast, we skype in with Constance Dykhuizen in Bangkok, the executive director of JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation where she manages partnerships and grants. In addition, she is a brand strategy and marketing consultant for organizations and individuals to solve problems and increase impact. To listen to more, visit our Podcast page.

Claudine Harris, founder of storiesforgood.net joins us on the podcast today. She skype’s in to chat with Heidi Burkey about what it means to make sure that people remain the keeper of their stories. To listen to more, visit our Podcast page.

Gabriele François Casini founded GC Productions after several years of media, communications and advocacy experience within Médecins Sans Frontières and Save the Children. He worked in various contexts around the world, including South Sudan, DRC and Iraq. He took part in the response to the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa and has been involved in projects assisting people on the move both in the Mediterranean Sea and on land in Greece. Over the years Gabriele has been lucky enough to win a few photography and reportage awards and to have his work published by major media outlets, magazines and agencies, including National Geographic and the The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. To listen to more, visit our Podcast page.

Ashley is the founder and creative director at Cliff Co., an impact storytelling agency. Ashley uses visual storytelling to generate awareness around complex international issues. She’s a filmmaker, certified trauma informed mental health recovery specialist and a future mental health counselor. Her films have been viewed by millions, received international awards and aided in passing legislation. She believes that a well told story can connect and ignite us all to serve as a catalyst for social impact and – ultimately – change. To listen to more, visit our Podcast page.

Today we sit down with Michael Kass, the founder for the Center of Story and Spirit, a Los Angeles based project that grew out of his passion for helping people in organizations discover and harness the power of their stories to create change. In this episode Michael shares when he first realized the power of story and gives practical tools for practitioners to create a storytelling culture within their organization and with their supporters.

On today’s Ethical Storytelling NGO Podcast, we sit down with Cat. Born and raised in Northern Thailand, Cat was the first recipient of a scholarship from The Freedom Story in 2007. Cat’s story inspired an entire organization based on the simple belief that education could change her, and many others, future. Her original documentary was released in 2007 and screened in over 27 cities in America. Yet when given the option to put her film online, she chose not to, recognizing that she wanted to be remembered for who she has become, not who she was then. To listen to more, visit our Podcast page.

On today’s Ethical Storytelling NGO Podcast, we sit down with Katrina Boratko, the communications manager at Mama Hope. Her goal at Mama Hope is to amplify the voices of grassroots communities and train the next generation of the social impact workforce to reject the top down, pity based marketing strategies. She strongly believes that authentic, community driven storytelling inspires lasting social change. To listen to more, visit our Podcast page.

Today we get to sit down with Katie Basbagill, a photojournalist and mixed media artist who has spent the last decade of her life focused on global human rights issues. She has taken her camera to six continents and nearly 50 countries documenting the interconnectedness of humanity to bring human rights issues to light. In this episode Katie shares what ethical storytelling means to her, what she feels responsible for as a photographer and how turning the camera on herself taught her how much courage it takes to tell your story.

In this podcast we bring you stories from the field. Each guest shares their unique viewpoint as well as their personal successes and growth in the pursuit of ethical storytelling. Today we get to hear from Adam Sjoberg, a commercial director and documentary filmmaker. His two feature films include “Shake the Dust” – a hopeful film about breakdance in places like Colombia, Cambodia, Yemen, and Uganda – and “I Am Sun Mu” – a film about a North Korean dissident artist who creates satirical paintings about the North Korean regime as well as images of hope. Both films are available on Netflix. In this episode Adam breaks down what he sees as the foundation of ethical storytelling, how he decides what nonprofits to work with and what standards he applies into his own work, as well as how he has learned to integrate his subject’s voice in the storytelling process.

Today we get to hear from Carter Quinley, the Thailand Ambassador of Freedom Collaborative, an online platform which resources, connects and equips the anti-trafficking community across the globe. Additionally, she is the Strategic Partnerships Manager at Nvader, an organization which professionally investigates cases of trafficking and child sexual exploitation and prosecutes offenders. In this episode Carter highlights how story has played a role in the growth of the anti human trafficking sector, what they are doing now to evaluate that process and why it’s important to set story standards to guide staff, journalists and donors who come into our organizations.

Today we get to hear from Regina Evans, an Oakland native and owner of Regina’s Door, a vintage clothing boutique which serves as a sanctuary for survivors of sex trafficking, homeless youth, and young artists. She’s a survivor leader in the fight against modern day slavery, a playwright, poet and performer. In this episode Regina reminds us about the importance of the survivors voice, why listening is the first step in ethical storytelling and how sometimes we have to think beyond story to create social change. Special thanks to Kyle Hara and Quad House Media for editing this episode.

Today we sit down with April Kirby, a videographer and visual storyteller living in Dallas, TX. Her work with nonprofits has taken her all around the world. And though she has more than a decade of production experience, April is just getting started in the kind of work that fuels her soul. In this episode April talks about what drew her to nonprofit storytelling, the first time she realized her power as an editor, and how discovering the process of ethical storytelling is shaping the direction of her career.

Today we sit down with Nikole Lim from Freely in Hope, a speaker, educator, and consultant on leveraging dignity through the restorative art of storytelling. Her work is centered around shifting paradigms of how stories of trauma are told by platforming voices of the oppressed—sharing stories of immense beauty arising out of unexpected places. In this episode Nikole describes the role of the nonprofit in the storytelling space, the moment she realized story can be a process of identification and healing and how in spite of our differences there is something in our humanity that always unites us.

Welcome to the Ethical Storytelling Podcast! In this intro to our first series, ‘Ethical Storytelling 101’, Rachel Goble and Heidi Burkey share why they started this podcast, what ethical storytelling means to them, and what you can expect from our first series.

The second webinar in our training module, Storyteller Ethical Storytelling: How To includes panelists sharing their experiences from the perspective of writing, photography and filmmaking. A download link of a recording of the webinar which includes presenters’ slides is available upon checkout.

In the fifth season of Ethical Storytellings podcast we welcome a new guest host, Genelle Aldred, to explore power dynamics in Ethical Storytelling. For over a decade Genelle Aldred has worked at many of the UK’s largest broadcasting organisations. It has taken her in different directions and ended up in a non-linear career with diverse […]

We welcome Rachel Pieh Jones to the Power Dynamics Series. Rachel joins guest host Genelle Aldred to invite us in to her ever evolving journey of wrestling with power dynamics in storytelling. Rachel is the author of Stronger than Death, Finding Home, Djiboutilicious, and Welcome to Djibouti. Her work appears in the New York Times, Runners World, Christianity Today, Deadspin, and […]

We welcome Kent Annan to the Power Dynamics Series. Kent Annan joins guest host Genelle Aldred to explore power dynamics in storytelling. Kent is director of humanitarian and disaster leadership at Wheaton College, where he leads an M.A. program as part of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute. He’s on the board of directors of Equitas Group, a philanthropic […]

Part 3 of Lisa’s interview for the Power Dynamics Series. Make sure to grab your notebook for this one. Lisa Sharon Harper joins guest host Genelle Aldred to explore power dynamics in storytelling. In her 3 part episode, Lisa shares her perspective of the role story plays in maintaining hierarchies and her experience of bridge […]