The following Network members have provided us with their short bios and their story work.
Gert Johnson – Leader of the Interfaith Story Network (ISN), [email protected], 518-374-0637
I stepped into storytelling as the result of researching and validating the power of story for my master’s degree in theology. I experimented with story in my high school classroom of religious studies and watched it transform my teaching. As a result, I founded the Interfaith Story Circle of the Capital Region of NY in 1993 and co-founded The Children at the Well Youth Storytellers for Peace and Understanding in 2005. For the past 30 + years, I have seen, firsthand, the difference that Interfaith storytelling work can make in the lives of individuals and communities. As a result, I have a deep desire to share and to see this work prosper for others around our country and the world and am currently lending my efforts to the creation of the Interfaith Story Network to bring this about.
Sue Kessler – Executive Director of ASST ( Artists Standing Strong Together), asst.art
Sue is the leader of this highly effective story arts organization which is graciously providing us with a platform for our bi-monthly online Interfaith Story Circles, She has has been extremely helpful in partnering and supporting our efforts to get our Interfaith Story Network underway.
Kate Dudding – ISN Webmaster, [email protected]
ince 1995, I’ve been telling entertaining and heartwarming stories, specializing in true stories about people who made a difference. Many years ago, at the urging of my friend Gert Johnson, I joined our local Faith and Values Story Circle even though I am not a member of any faith community. When the name of the group changed to Interfaith Story Circle, I stayed because I believe interfaith gatherings are an important path to world peace. I am a strong contributor to and supporter of this group and its webmaster for a number of years.
Renee Brachfeld is a professional storyteller from Washington, DC. Together with her husband, Rabbi Mark Novak, Renee has performed and taught at churches, synagogues, and community events throughout North America. Renee is Co-Director of the MultiFaith Storytelling Institute, which offers storytelling workshops and retreats for congregations, community groups and individuals. Among her other interfaith work, Renee is a facilitator of difficult conversations for the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom.
Alden (Joe) Doolittle, has applied his good-natured raconteur and storytelling style with audiences throughout the Northeast.. He tells personal stories and has a repertoire of historical tales about the history of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys. Joe, a retired health care executive, has been active in his local First Reformed church, his local interfaith story circle and served patients of all faiths as a volunteer chaplain at Albany Medical Center for 20+years. Joe is also a board member of the Healing Story Alliance.
Audrey Galex is the author of “Turtle Rocks,” a children’s book about the power of teamwork. She’s a VoiceOver talent, and an award-winning broadcast journalist who recently retired as Community Engagement Director at AIB Network (Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters.) Audrey serves as principle coordinator of the Atlanta Jewish Storytelling Festival and the emcee of Interfaith Atlanta’s “Winter’s Light” interfaith storytelling event. She’s been the featured storyteller at Atlanta’s annual Interfaith Festival. Having retired, Audrey is excited to have more time to pursue her interest in developing her storytelling performance skills and repertoire, particularly of stories that open and maintain healthy channels of communication among different cultures.
Katie Green believes that stories can, and do, change the world. She has been telling stories and facilitating workshops across the U.S. and beyond for over 30 years. Katie is the initiator of the Interfaith Story Circle that has been meeting once a month for three and ½ years In Dunedin, Florida. She is a member of Clearwater Friends Meeting in Florida (Quaker) and New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. She is recognized for her leadership in Quaker organizations and is a facilitator for the Alternatives to Violence Project. Katie is often called to the pulpit in Unitarian, Unitarian Universalist, and Congregational Churches.
Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi, Dutchess County Interfaith Story Circle, New York State, USA, believes in the power of the spoken word to enlighten, educate and delight all who listen! A versatile performer, emcee and workshop presenter, her stories of wit, wonder and wisdom captivate audiences of all ages whether she is standing in the classroom or on a concert stage. Her belief in the power of story to bridge differences inspired her to work with Muriel Horowitz, Gail Burger, Kusum Gupta and Fatima Thompson to create the Dutchess County (NY) Interfaith Story Circle over 20 years ago.
Muriel Horowitz, Dutchess County Interfaith Story Circle, New York State, USA, is a passionate story-lover,. She brings her commitment to social justice, her experience in literacy learning and teaching, and her love of her Jewish heritage to her work as workshop facilitator, performer, and provider of arts-in-education programs. Muriel is one of the founders of the Dutchess County (NY) Interfaith Story Circle.
Ted Kagan I teach Storytelling with San Diego Community College-College of Continuing Education. I teach at Assistant Living facilities where many of my people have experienced WWII, the Holocaust, the 20’s, etc. They tell fantastic stories. My goal is to have them publish their personal stories. I also grew up with a grandfather who was a Maggid (a Jewish Storyteller) and at times, I do follow in his footsteps. El Cajon California (San Diego County) [email protected] 619-855-0602
Whittier Mikkelsen is an author and storyteller who specializes in telling healing stories and facilitating workshops centering on disability and emotional healing. She holds an MA in psychology and worked in mental health until pain secondary to cerebral palsy caused her to slow down and pursue writing. Whittier’s love of the natural world has led her to photography. Her floral photographs hang in local galleries. A resident of Florida’s Gulf Coast, she is focused on storytelling and writing.
Vera Sandronsky, of the Jewish tradition, is on the board of the Celebration of Abraham, an organization in Yolo County (near Sacramento) that seeks to create a welcoming tent for people to nurture a sense of compassion, respect, and appreciation and to foster learning and understanding among the three Abrahamic traditions. Vera is also on the board of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, a national organization of Muslim and Jewish women whose mission is to build relationships, to promote and advocate for human rights, and to end acts of hate for all human beings. Vera, who worked as an attorney for the state of California before her retirement in 2020, has a creative writing practice. You can find her work here. She is eager to bring interfaith storytelling to her hometown of Davis, California to help build relationships and trust among people who don’t know each other. [email protected] 916-717-9681
Cherie Karo Schwartz is a Storyteller, Author and Educator in Denver, Colorado, for over 50 years, sharing spirit-filled tales of wishes and wisdom throughout the country and abroad. She is steeped in her Jewish tradition and loves to listen to and learn from many other faith traditions. She was on the Faculty of Jewish Spiritual Education maggid training, and created the NewCAJE RISE Storytelling training program for Jewish Educators. Cherie has participated with story-sharing in many Interfaith programs over the years. She has authored three books, each of which include stories, traditions and cuisine from more than 25 countries. Cherie has been involved with or helped to create Interfaith story events, Story Sharing Circles (personal, sacred and traditional), and special programs and events with the Turkish community and with the Greek community.
Dana Sherry I am a scholar and storyteller based in Berkeley, CA, and I have been telling folktales since 2009. I’ve focused primarily on tales from the Caucasus and Central Asia, as my work as a historian brings me to those areas and I was privileged to produce a monthly storytelling series from 2013-202 at a cultural center dedicated to the traditional arts of the Silk Road. Over the last few years I’ve realized it’s time to balance that with attention to my own cultural traditions, and that has brought me to the deep and wild world of Catholic saints. I’m currently working on a master’s degree in theology to better understand the cultural context of the saints, while telling their stories in a variety of settings and laying the groundwork for an interfaith storytelling series in the Bay Area.
Moira Theile lives in Munich, Germany and is retired. Since her certification as a storyteller 20 years ago, she regularly hosts a storytelling circle at home where stories are told in German and English. Although a Protestant Christian, her long lasting love belongs to the Jewish tradition, while telling stories from various Middle Eastern traditions and from all over the world. She often organizes an Interfaith Storytelling and Dialog Café for mixed audiences – Christian, Muslim, Jewish, other or no faith, at a Munich Mosque, at Church communities and at the Jewish European Janusz-Korczak-Academy, using stories as a way to get the audience into sharing and talking with each other about their lives, thoughts and values with respect to their own religions and cultures. [email protected]
Rev. Cynthia Westby is an eco-chaplain, Interfaith Minister, naturalist, and animal tracker who has been telling personal stories and wisdom tales since 1989. She completed the Storytelling Certificate program at Dominican College in San Rafael, California, and her Master’s degree in Theology and the Arts from United Theological Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her thesis focused on the Jātaka tales (the tales of the Buddha’s past lives). She is a Buddhist with a deep passion for the natural world. She is a professional member of both the Seattle and Portland Storytellers Guilds. She worked for years as a family minister at a Unitarian church. Two years ago she moved from Seattle to the Hillsboro, Oregon area where she is making plans for a monthly interfaith story circle.