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We hope you were able to tune into “60 Minutes” on Sunday, January 9, 2022. StoryCorps—a nonprofit dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs—was honored to be the subject of a feature on the premier newsmagazine program. But, if you missed it, you’re in luck–we’ve included it below. You can also watch StoryCorps on “60 Minutes” Overtime here.

Watch the full “60 Minutes” segment here.

The segment, hosted by correspondent Norah O’Donnell, profiles the growth of StoryCorps from its inception in 2003, when founder and award-winning journalist Dave Isay established a single recording booth in Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal, to today. As of 2021, more than 600,000 Americans have participated in a StoryCorps interview, preserving a piece of personal history in the archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and contributing to the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered. 

Norah interviews a number of people associated with the organization, including Dave, Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden, and award-winning author and former StoryCorps facilitator Jason Reynolds. “60 Minutes” also visited StoryCorps’ headquarters in Brooklyn, where they filmed Dave leading an advisory meeting and a StoryCorps facilitator training, among other activities.

The feature also spotlights one of StoryCorps’ more recent and ambitious projects, One Small Step. Piloted in 2018, One Small Step brings people with different political views together to record a 50-minute conversation with each other about their lives, not politics and to date, more than 2,000 people in 40 cities have participated. 

One Small Step is anchored in four U.S. cities, with an aim to connect people and reinforce the notion that we have much more in common than what divides us. StoryCorps gave “60 Minutes” unprecedented access to One Small Step conversations as they unfolded in Richmond, Virginia this fall and they also caught up with Dave in Charlottesville, Virginia, as he gave a speech at a kick-off event for the organization’s partnership with the UVA Democracy Initiative.

One Small Step is made possible by the generous support of The Hearthland Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Charles Koch Institute.

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I guess you could say that Nicole Unice has taken “two small steps.”  After participating in one of the first One Small Step conversations in Richmond soon after the program’s launch, she found herself mic’d up for another session when CBS’s “60 Minutes” came calling for a segment on OSS.  

On that occasion, she was paired with a fellow pastor named Brenda, and while their politics were different, the two women discovered they had much in common—Army brats, with a  strong foundation in spirituality and patriotism.  

A Presbyterian pastor, Nicole grew up in a quintessential conservative household where the family embraced the ideals of fiscal conservatism, small government, and Christian values. As a longtime fan of StoryCorps, Nicole had used illustrations from the program in her sermons and teachings, focusing often on the spiritual formations around faith and wellness. 

In Brenda, she not only found a connection she calls “mystical,” but saw her as a font of wisdom.

“I was honored to sit with someone who is my elder, and I thought ‘I want to learn from you,’” she remembers. 

As a minister herself in Charlottesville, Brenda did pastoring to locals following the Unite the Right rally there in 2017, and it was their mutual foundations in faith where they found commonality.

With the “60 Minutes’” cameras rolling, Nicole said, “Oh, Brenda, I love what you just said about helping people find their path, because I feel such a connection there.”

Nicole says she has long been familiar with contact theory, the underlying premise for One Small Step—that  essentially,  it’s more difficult to hate people you get to know. Having grown up with a brother who was adopted from Korea, she became interested in racial conciliation and seeks ways to find common understanding among disparate people. 

“It’s the connection among hearts that I think is what’s been lost in our culture,” Nicole says. “If we can make those connections, it’s what elevates humanity.”

The post Pastor to Pastor: the Connection was “Mystical” appeared first on StoryCorps.

After years of working closely with community partners, StoryCorps has created a new set of do-it-yourself resources to help organizations develop their own interview collection projects.

With multimedia resources and guides, StoryCorps DIY offer insights and instructions on how to:

• Promote listening: Preserve the life stories of your community members, and facilitate meaningful interactions between community members.
• Build an archive: Develop your organization’s oral history collection, and add voices and perspectives that are currently missing.
• Create dynamic public programming: Bring new audiences to your organization by inviting them to record their own stories, or to take part in listening events.
• Partner in new ways with peer organizations: Forge meaningful connections with partner organizations for a shared project goal.

StoryCorps DIY is best suited for groups and organizations that wish to create a sustainable community program around storytelling. Sign up for free.

Sample Video Resource

Upcoming Webinars

Register for a live webinar to receive an introduction to the available StoryCorps DIY resources from StoryCorps staff. You do not need to attend a webinar to get started. All webinars last approximately 60 minutes.

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

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Since this country’s last public execution in 1936, all U.S. executions have been carried out solely in front of state-selected witnesses. Alongside the controversy over the morality of capital punishment has raged a parallel debate: Should the state’s ultimate act against an individual be enacted in secret? Many in the media have tried to bring their cameras and tape recorders into the execution chamber, but courts have consistently ruled that, although the media do have a place in witnessing executions, they have no right to record the scene.

In 1998, however, audio tapes of 22 Georgia executions — tapes recorded by members of the state’s Department of Corrections for their own records — entered the court record when criminal defense lawyer Mike Mears subpoenaed the tapes in a lawsuit he brought challenging the state’s use of the electric chair. Sound Portraits acquired the recordings, and, in conjunction with WNYC, produced The Execution Tapes.

The Execution Tapes is an hour-long public radio special hosted by Ray Suarez featuring excerpts of recordings made in Georgia’s death house during state electrocutions. This broadcast is the first time a national audience is able to hear what takes place during a state-sponsored execution.

In addition to audio of the 1984 execution of Ivon Ray Stanley, the program features audio of an execution that had to be “reinitiated” — that is, an execution in which the inmate is still alive after being electrocuted for two minutes, requiring that he be electrocuted again. There is also a selection of inmates’ final statements, recorded immediately before their execution.

Excerpts of the tapes are followed by two roundtable discussions about the implications of the tapes’ broadcast. Participants include 60 Minutes co-editor Mike Wallace, First-Amendment lawyer Martin Garbus, former Georgia Attorney General Michael Bowers, professor of psychiatry and psychology Robert Jay Lifton, and Diane Clements, president of the victims’ rights organization Justice for All.

Recorded in Jackson, Georgia. Premiered January 1, 2001.

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We are pleased to announce that Ron Gunzburger is joining StoryCorps as Chief of Staff, Special Projects. Ron will work with CEO Sandra Clark and Founder & President Dave Isay to ensure the maximum impact of One Small Step, a major initiative to combat the divisions in our country, bringing strangers with different political beliefs together for a conversation—not to debate politics, but to get to know each other as people. To date, more than 3,400 people have participated in a One Small Step conversation and the effort has garnered notable media coverage, including a “60 Minutes” segment, and most recently, a feature in the Wall Street Journal.

Before joining StoryCorps, Ron—a Democrat—served for eight years as the Senior Advisor (Political Director) for Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan. Ron also served as the Governor’s Director of Covid-19 Response Strategy throughout the state of emergency (2020-22), helping save countless lives and businesses during the darkest days of the pandemic. 

Ron comes with a wealth of experience navigating political divides, working as a campaign manager or senior strategist on more than 130 campaigns for centrist, good government candidates. In 1997, he created the popular Politics1.com, a complete online directory of statewide and federal candidates, that he still publishes. Ron’s @politics1com Twitter feed is followed by the nation’s leading political reporters and campaign consultants.

Ron sees StoryCorps—and its One Small Step initiative—as his next opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of Americans. As a child and grandchild of Holocaust survivors, Ron is acutely aware of what can occur when people lose sight of their shared humanity. 

An attorney by training, Ron has been a public defender, a state racketeering prosecutor, a litigation partner in a top-100 national law firm, and a governmental general counsel. He also served as a senior civilian commander in the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, one of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies, and successfully advanced transparency, accountability and criminal justice reforms.

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One such advocate is Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting agriculture. StoryCorps sat down with Ryan to talk about his passion for One Small Step and why he thinks the Fresno/Central Valley area is the perfect location for an Anchor Community.

How did you first become aware of OSS?

In January of last year, I saw the OSS feature on “60 Minutes” and around this same time, I also started to hear about Fresno/Central Valley being picked as one of just a handful of communities nationwide to lead OSS. My first impression was ‘this is terrific’ because we need to be able to do something to counter the hyper-partisanship in America today. 

We also had Dave [Isay, StoryCorps founder and president] here to speak to our Rotary club and afterward, I think we all felt very supportive of OSS and proud that we were chosen to lead this project.

Why do you think Fresno/Central Valley is a great choice to be an OSS Anchor Community?

This area is different from people’s perceptions of what California is. For example, we are purple — with a real mix of politicians from both sides of the aisle and a very diverse population. Historically, many different groups have come here to farm over the generations and that diversity is borne out by the fact that 59 languages are spoken by students and their families within the Fresno Unified School District. The Central Valley feeds the rest of the country with over 350 different types of crops.

You participated in an OSS conversation—what was that experience like for you?

I want to assure anyone who is hesitant to participate in a conversation that there is nothing to worry about. The conversation process is so easy because the facilitator who leads the discussion is highly trained and makes sure you and your partner feel comfortable the whole way through. I’ve encouraged lots of people here to participate in a conversation and no one has had regrets. 

As an OSS Community Advisory Group (CAG) member, why are you continuing to support OSS?

As a member of the advisory group, I am here to be the voice of the community. I’m invested in OSS because I believe that we all have much more in common than we have differences and the current divisions in our country are not good for us. We need a better way forward and OSS is just that: one small step in the right direction.

The post Meet Ryan Jacobsen: A One Small Step Advocate appeared first on StoryCorps.

Following introductions, viewers were shown a clip from the 2022 OSS “60 Minutes” segment and Dave talked about the evolution of OSS, an effort to remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree. He noted that later this year, the initiative will launch a comprehensive, self-facilitated digital tool allowing more people to experience an OSS conversation and that OSS will expand to more communities. 

Dave pointed out that many OSS participants become friends after the experience, a result he called “exhilarating,” and he showed a video clip (“audio card”) to underscore this. In the audio card, OSS participants Jerome and Warren, both from Richmond, VA, provide a recap of their conversation and the warmth between them is palatable. Jerome remarks, “You are a dear, dear friend and I can’t imagine you not being in my life …” to which Warren responds simply, …”It’s been reciprocal.”

Dave also affirmed the value of the “Brain Trust”: a group of expert advisors—composed of social scientists, researchers, and psychologists—who help guide OSS. He then introduced research conducted by Brain Trust member Tim Dixon and his organization, More in Common, which showed, among other results, that people across the political spectrum were moved by OSS content and that it increased viewers’ desire to have their own cross-partisan conversation by almost fifty percent.  

After being introduced by Dave, Peter talked about the bridge building space, observing that, “Many groups are bringing people together across the divide but oftentimes, move them prematurely into debate. One thing OSS did from the beginning was to test this and … start with people just getting to know each other and sharing stories, things they have in common …” He also commended Dave for conducting interviews across a spectrum of media outlets, explaining, “People are more receptive and open to ideas from their trusted media sources,” so messages delivered on these channels creates “high social impact.”

Before the Q&A session, Dave asked Peter to share a story illustrating how people’s preconceived notions of “the other” can be challenged when they meet up close. While conducting research during the 2001-02 Intifada—a time of increased violence and tension between Israel and Palestine—Peter relayed that many of interviewees had experienced a surprise encounter with a member from “the other side.” 

He recounted how a Palestinian woman told him that, as a child, she was playing with her friends when a Jewish man approached. She thought of him as the devil, but then he put down a plate of cookies and said they were for the children, so reluctantly, they ate them. Later, the woman remembered that moment as introducing a “crack in the certainty that the ‘other’ was bad” and it has affected how she views Jewish people ever since. Similarly, OSS brings people together in an effort to remind us that we have more in common than divides us.

The talk concluded with a Q&A session and some questions weren’t answered due to time constraints. To read Dave’s responses to some of these additional questions, click here.

The post Fireside Chat Explores Impact and Future of One Small Step appeared first on StoryCorps.

If you would like to schedule an interview with a StoryCorps executive or have a media-related request, please contact: press@storycorps.org. If your request is time-sensitive, please contact StoryCorps’ Press Representative Blake Zidell at 917-572-2493  or blake@blakezidell.com. 

Resources

Press Kit

The StoryCorps Press Kit includes executive bios, and information on StoryCorps’ history, initiatives, and more.

Images for Download/Publication

• Executive Headshots
• First StoryCorps StoryBooth (Grand Central Terminal)
• StoryCorps Participants
• StoryBooth

Content for Publication

• Introduction to StoryCorps 
• Dave Isay’s TED Talk (2015)
• Dave Isay’s TED Talk (2016)

Recent Press Releases

• New Season of StoryCorps Podcast, “Game Changers,” Premieres July 30, 2024, July 26, 2024.
• StoryCorps Launches One Small Step America, a National Effort to Bridge Divides During a Contentious Election Year, July 8, 2024.
• StoryCorps Announces 2024 One Small Step Radio Station Hubs: Seven Public Media Stations Nationwide Selected to Foster Connection Across Political Divides, May 30, 2024.
• StoryCorps Appoints Seckeita Taylor Lewis as Chief Marketing Officer, May 14, 2024.
• New Season of StoryCorps Podcast, “My Way,” Premieres April 23 April 16, 2024.
• StoryCorps’ 2024 Military Voices Tour to Record and Preserve the Stories of Veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and Military Families, February 22, 2024.
• Dartmouth Partners with StoryCorps’ One Small Step to Model Authentic Dialogue on College Campuses, February 20, 2024.
• StoryCorps Names Stacy Wilson Margolis Chief Development Officer, January 2, 2024.
• StoryCorps Announces 2024 Mobile Tour, December 20, 2023.
• StoryCorps’ 2023 Great Thanksgiving Listen Invites People Nationwide to Record Meaningful Conversations Over the Holiday Using the StoryCorps Mobile App, November 1, 2023.
• StoryCorps Launches Fourth One Small Step Anchor Community in Columbus, GA, September 13, 2023.
• Research Demonstrates Impact of StoryCorps’ One Small Step Initiative On Polarization in the United States, September 5,  2023.
• StoryCorps Appoints Reginald Dwayne Betts and Alex Blumberg to Board of Directors, August 15,  2023.
• StoryCorps Announces Special Programming and Gala to Celebrate the Organization’s 20th Anniversary, July 17,  2023.
• StoryCorps Launched One Small Step Congress, June 5, 2023.
• StoryCorps to Release “History Lessons,” a Series of Animations Documenting Pivotal Moments in History, May 18, 2023.
• StoryCorps Announces Michael Garofalo as Chief Content Officer, May 2, 2023.
• 2023 One Small Step Radio Station Hubs Announced: Five Public Media Stations Nationwide to Foster Connection Across Political Divides, May 1, 2023.
• StoryCorps Names Ron Gunzburger Chief of Staff, March 29, 2023.
• StoryCorps announces 2023 Military Voices Initiative, March 7, 2023.
Full list of Press Releases Here

Media Highlights

• Reducing Toxic Polarization—One Conversation at a Time, TED Talks Daily, July 7, 2024.
• You Can Record With StoryCorps’ Military Voices Initiative in 2023 in These States, Stephen Ruiz, Military.com, March 17, 2023.
• Weekend Confidential: StoryCorps Founder Dave Isay Believes in the Power of Conversation, Emily Bobrow, The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2023. 
• How Conversations with Strangers are Helping Bridge a Divide, TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, July 14, 2022.
• StoryCorps Shares a Story from Its New Mother’s Day Animation Series, PBS NewsHour, May 8, 2022.
• StoryCorps Releases New Animations for Mother’s Day, Good Morning America, May 7, 2022.
• Nonprofit Takes “One Small Step” in Fight Against Toxic Polarization, Esther Larson, Philanthropy Roundtable, May 5, 2022.
• Bridging America’s Political Divide with Conversations, “One Small Step” at a Time, CBS, “60 Minutes,” January 9, 2022.
• 15 Memorial Day Activities for the Whole Family, Meghan Jones, Reader’s Digest, August 14, 2021.
• StoryCorps’ Mission to Bridge the U.S. Political Divide, ABC News, “This Week,” April 11, 2021.
• How I Time-Travel to Parent My Adult Son, Erik Vance, The New York Times, April 9, 2021.
• A Key to Bridging the Political Divide: Sit Down and Talk?, Glenn Gamboa, Associated Press, March 30, 2021.
• Small Steps: How Americans Can Come Together to Bridge Our Dangerous Political Divide, Dave Isay, USA Today, February 5, 2021.
• Library of Congress Launches Covid Oral History Project, Michael E. Ruane, The Washington Post, January 25, 2024.

Full Media Highlights Here

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]]> https://storycorps.org/press-release-storycorps-announces-dane-e-holmes-as-the-new-chair-of-its-board-of-directors/ Tue, 08 Mar 2022 20:00:00 +0000 StoryCorps, the nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing humanity’s stories, today announces Dane E. Holmes as the new Chair of its Board of Directors.

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]]> Award-Winning Organization Also Appoints Vic Parker as Treasurer and Welcomes Aaron Bates, Giovanna Gray Lockhart, Miriam Hess, Gary Knell, Sarah O’Brien, James Ransom, and Jason Reynolds to the Board

StoryCorps, the nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing humanity’s stories, today announces Dane E. Holmes as the new Chair of its Board of Directors, effective March 4. Holmes, the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Eskalera, who previously held various leadership positions at Goldman Sachs, comes to the new role after serving as Vice Chair since 2017 and Treasurer since 2020. He succeeds Marta Elisa Moret, President of Urban Policy Strategies, who has been Interim Board Chair since 2021.

Dave Isay, Founder and President of StoryCorps, says, “Dane has been a steadfast supporter of StoryCorps for many years, and the organization has benefitted in countless ways from his extraordinary wisdom and deep humanity. We’re grateful to have him as an advisor and friend and thrilled to see him assume leadership of the Board. As we approach StoryCorps’ 20th anniversary next year, the organization’s future couldn’t be in better hands.”

StoryCorps has also appointed Vic Parker, a Managing Director of Spectrum Equity, as Treasurer and added seven new members to its Board: Aaron M. Bates, Head, Private Wealth Platform and Partnerships at AllianceBernstein; Giovanna Gray Lockhart, founder of the New York Women’s Collective and a Senior Advisor to Paid Leave for the United States; Miriam Hess, Partner at Siegel Strategies; Gary Knell, Senior Advisor to Boston Consulting Group and Past Chairman, National Geographic Partners; Sarah O’Brien, Vice President of Communications at Meta; James Ransom, who serves as a Board Member and the Chair of Economic Development at the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs, and who is featured in the beloved StoryCorps recording and animation “Miss Devine”; and bestselling author Jason Reynolds, who is also the Library of Congress’ National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and was once a StoryCorps interview facilitator.

StoryCorps CEO Sandra M. Clark says, “StoryCorps is an organization dedicated to seeking out, recording, preserving, and sharing the stories and insights of people of all backgrounds and beliefs and will be better able to serve its mission with the invaluable perspectives of these new Board members, a diverse group of leaders with a wide range of expertise. I’m excited to work closely with them to help StoryCorps make an even greater impact in the years ahead.”

These changes to the Board occur at a time of strength and growth for StoryCorps. The organization has recorded almost 600,000 Americans—making its archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress the largest collection of human voices ever gathered. In February 2022, StoryCorps welcomed Sandra M. Clark, previously Vice President for News and Civic Dialogue at WHYY, Inc., as CEO. StoryCorps has more than doubled its annual revenue, to $15 million, since 2014 and in January 2022 was profiled by CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

Dane Holmes, the new Chair of StoryCorps’ Board of Directors, says, “StoryCorps’ mission of creating human connection, empathy, and understanding is as critical as ever. In these challenging times, StoryCorps has both the people and the will to take on the extraordinary task of reminding us of our shared humanity. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to play a small part in this essential effort, and to continue working closely with Vic in our new roles. I also want to thank Marta for her leadership, which is just one of the numerous ventures she has undertaken in her service to others. She has our eternal gratitude, and we will carry on in a way that honors her significant contributions.”

About Dane E. Holmes, Vic Parker, and the New Board Members

Dane. E. Holmes is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Eskalera, Inc., an enterprise software company that builds inclusive, productive work cultures through people empowerment and data-based insights, since 2020. Prior to Eskalera, Holmes was the global head of Human Capital Management at Goldman Sachs from 2017 to 2019 and served as a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He held many positions at Goldman Sachs from 2007 to 2017, including global head of Pine Street and global head of investor relations. During his career, he served on a variety of additional global committees, including Partnership Committee, Risk Committee, Client and Business Standards Committee, Finance Committee, and Global Diversity Committee. Holmes serves on the board of KKR & Co. Inc. Holmes also serves on several non-profit boards. He is currently the Chair of The Ron Brown Scholar Program. Holmes earned a BA in architecture from Columbia University.

Vic Parker joined Spectrum Equity in 1998 and is a Managing Director in San Francisco. His investment experience includes both consumer facing and vertical saas software businesses in industry segments such as edtech, healthcare IT, logistics, and internet information services. He has led Spectrum’s efforts with companies including Ancestry, TeachersPayTeachers, Lynda.com, SurveyMonkey, GoodRx, NetQuote, ExamSoft, DispatchTrack, and NetScreen. Parker previously served on the Board of the NVCA and is a member of the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and an AB, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College.

Aaron M. Bates is Head, Private Wealth Platform and Partnerships at AllianceBernstein, overseeing the firm’s content creation and distribution, marketing strategy, and third-party product and service partnerships. Prior to his current position, Bates was head of Bernstein’s Wealth Strategies team and served as senior managing director. Previously, from Boston, he led Bernstein’s Northeast Private Wealth practice. From 2005 to 2010, he worked in London on the launch of the firm’s global private client practice in Europe; he was appointed Principal in 2008. Prior to that, Bates was based in New York, where he oversaw the Northeast U.S. Private Wealth Management Services Group and served as an analyst in the Private Wealth Management Executive Group. He previously served in the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Office of the US Trade Representative. He has twice been selected to represent the U.S. at the German Marshall Fund’s Conference on Transatlantic Relations. Bates holds a BA in international affairs from George Washington University. He holds Board positions at WGBH Boston, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

Giovanna Gray Lockhart’s career has spanned politics, media, entrepreneurship, and gender equity. She served as a senior aide to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from 2010 to 2014 and was the Washington Editor of Glamour Magazine from 2014 to 2017. She currently serves as Senior Advisor to Paid Leave for the US (PL+US), advocating for the passage of federal paid family leave. Prior to the pandemic, Lockhart held senior roles at venture-backed coworking companies, first as the Senior Director of Impact at The Wing and then as Chief Strategy Officer at The Riveter. She is on the Board of Republic Restoratives, a woman-owned spirits company in Washington, D.C. Lockhart co-chairs the New York Women’s Collective, a political giving group she founded in 2017 that has contributed over $1,000,000 for Democratic women candidates.

Miriam Hess is a principal at Siegel Strategies, a political communications firm representing clients nationwide. She is a graduate of George Washington University and Saint Louis University schools of Law and Public Health. She began her career focusing on access to healthcare including critical services with the New York Department of Homeless Services under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, where she worked to reform the NYC Shelter system. Hess is also a volunteer with Ubuntu Africa, which delivers critical services to children and teens living with HIV/AIDS in Khayelitsha, South Africa, and she serves on the Board of Basic Health International.

Gary Knell has led some of the world’s most iconic organizations at the intersection of media, education, and social impact. He has served as President and CEO of National Geographic, NPR, and Sesame Workshop. He achieved a breakthrough restructuring of National Geographic, fully endowing the not-for-profit, now providing grants and resources for individuals working on climate, wildlife, oceans, and other critical global challenges, and creating a historic partnership with The Walt Disney Company. Knell led NPR through its digital transformation and expansion into the podcasting space and built bipartisan support for its critical work. Today, he serves as a Senior Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group in its Media and Social Impact practices, as Executive Chairman of Common Sense Classroom, as Special Advisor to Esri on consumer applications for its StoryMaps products, and Advisor to HonorEd Technologies. As the former Chairman of National Geographic Partners, Knell is a sought-after board member and counselor to organizations including the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the US Global Leadership Coalition, the Economic Club of Washington, WAMU, and the University of California Berkeley School of Journalism.

Sarah O’Brien has been the Vice President, Communications for Meta (previously Facebook) since 2019. From 2016-2018, O’Brien was the Vice President of Global Communications for Tesla, reporting directly to CEO Elon Musk, launching Model 3, Solar Roof, and Tesla’s Semi Truck. For eight years prior to that, she worked at Apple, leading comms for Apple Watch, in addition to global launches for iPhone, iPad, App Store, and the iTunes music festival. Originally from Ireland (via the UK), O’Brien launched her career in the music industry, first as PR Manager for the UK music industry association PPL, and then at EMI Music Publishing. She has a BA in Entertainment Management from LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) and a Mini-MBA in Business Management from the University of London and studied music and performance at the BRIT School for performing arts and technology. She currently lives in Oakland, California.

James Ransom is a civic leader in Tampa, Florida. He is a Board member of the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs and serves on the Board of Visit Tampa Bay. He recruited a number of other men in the community to formalize a mentoring and leadership program with Black youth and young professionals. Its goal is to help develop and nurture future leaders who will represent all people. Ransom and his cousin Cherie Johnson are featured in the beloved StoryCorps recording “Miss Devine,” in which they recall their formidable Sunday school teacher, Miss Lizzie Devine. “Miss Devine” is part of StoryCorps’ first-ever half-hour animated special, Listening Is an Act of Love.

Jason Reynolds is the author of more than a dozen books for young people, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, a National Book Award finalist that was named a Best Book of 2019 by NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and TIME. A native of Washington, D.C., Reynolds began writing poetry at age nine and is the recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award and multiple Coretta Scott King Award honors. His most recent book (with Ibram X. Kendi), Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Reynolds is the Library of Congress’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and has appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS This Morning. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program.

About StoryCorps

Founded in 2003, StoryCorps has given nearly 600,000 people, in all 50 states, the chance to record interviews about their lives. The award-winning organization preserves the recordings in its archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and shares select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ podcast, NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, engender empathy and connection, and remind us how much more we have in common than what divides us. StoryCorps is especially committed to capturing and amplifying voices least heard in the media. The StoryCorps MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer that has been transformed into a traveling recording booth, crisscrosses the country year-round gathering the stories of people nationwide. Learn more at storycorps.org.

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