(she/her)

Amy Hill, a fourth generation Californian with family roots in Sonoma and San Diego, is a long-time storytelling facilitator and social justice advocate. After working in public health for many years, she learned the art of video production and joined StoryCenter as a co-founder of Silence Speaks. The project began by documenting stories of domestic violence in California and evolved into a global health and human rights initiative. Amy has authored several journal articles and books chapters about the implications of this work for human rights promotion. BA, British and American Literature, Scripps College; MA, Gender Studies, Stanford University.

(he/him)

Born in Germany and raised all over the world, Raymond is an award-winning director and producer who served as Producing Artistic Director of Washington DC’s Theater Alliance from 2018 to 2023. Prior to leading Theater Alliance, he served as a faculty member in Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts and was the Community Engagement Partnership Manager at Arena Stage. Raymond is committed to using theater and media as tools to transform communities, and has partnered and worked with artists, activists, non-profits, and NGOs throughout the world. BFA, Acting, University of Florida; MFA, Acting/New Play Development, Ohio State University.

(she/her)

Orchid Pusey is a long-time San Francisco Bay Area resident and activist who grew up back and forth between rural Pennsylvania and Beijing. She has been with Asian Women’s Shelter for many years and currently serves as Executive Director. She founded the organization’s Community Interpretation Training Institute (CITI). Orchid has a wealth of experience designing and leading trainings on cultural responsiveness and trauma informed practice, violence prevention in LGBTQ communities, and community-based participatory research and evaluation. BA, Social Anthropology, Harvard University; MA, Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley.

(she/her)

Born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, Patricia Rojas is a visual artist, community mental health practitioner, and educator. She has been involved with social justice and community movements for her entire adult life. In Colombia, she worked alongside local leaders, thinkers, and artists promoting conflict resolution; in California, she uses storytelling, journaling, and artmaking in her therapeutic and community work. Patricia is an Assistant Professor at the University of San Francisco. BS, Psychology, Universidad de Los Andes; MA, Counseling Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies; EdD, International and Multicultural Education, University of San Francisco.

(they/them)

Ngozi "N/A" Oparah is a writer, researcher, and artist whose writing has been featured in numerous literary magazines and published in novella form. After participating in several research projects exploring post-traumatic stress disorder and memory, she joined StoryCenter to lead digital and visual storytelling projects with diverse and underserved communities. More recently, Ngozi has been teaching creative writing and storytelling strategies at universities and nonprofits globally. BA, Neuroscience and Philosophy, Duke University; MFA, Creative Writing, California College of the Arts; PhD, Creative Arts and Design, Loughborough University.

(she/her)

Mariya is a writer and activist who has worked in the anti-gender-based violence field for nearly two decades, in research, policy, program development, and direct service. She co-founded Sahiyo, an internationally recognized, award-winning organization that uses storytelling, training, and leadership development to empower communities to end female genital mutilation and cutting, FGM/C. She currently leads Sahiyo and also consults on a number of U.S. and global projects working to prevent cutting. A resident of Boston, Mariya is a widely published writer of essays and short stories and is currently working on her first novel. BA, Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara; MSW, San Francisco State University; MFA, Creative Writing, Lesley University.