Sharing Our Story was born of a love for story - and a deep knowing of its power to bring people together in meaningful connection, to express and communicate vision, mission and purpose in powerfully real and human ways. Individual human stories must all have heart, purpose and meaning to have lasting power and impact.
Sharing Our Story works with people to create their own digital stories. They tell their story in their own words… and through their own voice, using images they choose that also tell the story visually. These short 3 minute videos can form a basis of public discussion highlighting the individual beyond the whole group. Creating personal empathy and understanding where once there was none.
These stories promote understanding of individual experiences and are also useful in promoting an organization or company’s mission.
Sharing Our Story can work with non-profit, public, and private organizations that want to highlight the individual stories of the people they serve, their community, workforce, and mission. Our expertise in written and digital communication supports participants through the entire process.
Examples of how organizations can benefit from this are:
Stories of new refugees/immigrants, and long-term community members to bridge the commonalities of their experiences
Client stories of organizations that are useful for raising awareness for fundraising
Staff, volunteer, and board member stories to increase public awareness of organizational missions
Family stories of clients that highlight the support of care-based organizations.
Company client stories to reinforce positive impressions of products or services
Public agency stories reflecting positive program outcomes for marketing use
Who better to tell their story than those who lived it?
Our Team
Sally Rafson has a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, a Masters in International Economic and Social Development, and Teaching Certification as a Literacy Specialist . Her anthropology fieldwork includes research in Appalachia, West Africa, and Bridge Housing for Domestic Violence Victims in Pittsburgh.
She began her career as director of a community initiated housing program in Wilkinsburg. She has since worked with a variety of nonprofits in Toronto in consulting roles focused on organizational management, fundraising, and literacy development.
Sally was trained in digital storytelling facilitation by Volunteer Toronto, which used the method originally developed by StoryCenter. Sally created and managed Immigration Journeys: Old and New, a digital storytelling project focused on enabling newcomers and long- term residents to compose and tell their immigration stories using digital media, voice and photography. These stories were used to promote four public discussions. They have also been used in curated exhibits at the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh and the Westmoreland County Museum of American Art to highlight issues related to current and historical immigration.
Kara Sambrick is a professional photographer, photo editor and teaching artist. She has taught classes and workshops for non-profits such as Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Silver Eye Center for Photography, and Sweetwater Center for the Arts. Through her classes and workshops she helps students learn and share in her love for photography and video. Most recently she worked with ACLA as a media specialist for their Digital StoryTelling workshops. With them she helped refugees and US residents create videos that share their story about why they came to United States. Kara received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photography from Point Park University and currently resides in the South Hills of Pittsburgh.
Advisory Board
Andi Fischhoff has a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a Masters in Special Education/Early Childhood. She began a program in the '70s called Birth To Three, for new parents in Eugene, Oregon and, in Pittsburgh, served as development director for about 20 years at Family Resources, a nonprofit focused on child abuse prevention and treatment.
Retiring in 2011, she has since volunteered with a number of local nonprofit organizations, helping with proposal writing and organizational development. One of these organizations is the Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh, which serves the Bhutanese refugee population in this region and whose partnership has been very valued in developing the digital storytelling project and extending its reach to other refugee and immigrant populations locally.
Scott Hudson has a diverse global and non-profit background with corporate and academic careers, program development and capacity-building. He was an expat for eight years working in Angola (International Organization for Migration-IOM, Mozambique (United States Agency for International Development-USAID, IOM, and CARE International), and Fiji (Peace Corps) with short-term IOM assignments in Albania and Guatemala. Closer to home, Scott was a Program Officer with Alcoa Foundation, and is an Associate Director with Carnegie Mellon University-Foundation Relations.
Scott founded Spice Rack, a non-profit to explore racial and intercultural issues through the lens of community-based events and performances. Some of his highlights and interests are a) five-part series to improve community policing in Mt. Lebanon, b) variety of BIPOC sketches performed locally and on Zoom, and c) storytelling to increase awareness about refugee and immigrant issues. Key influences are Viola Spolin’s theater work with the Works Progress Administration to ease community integration of immigrants; Saul Alinsky’s work with community organizing; and Benjamin Franklin’s Junto initiative to facilitate conversation among groups with deep differences.
Amy Gilligan is a managerial, financial, and consulting professional with more than 30 years of experience in several arenas including nonprofit, government, and for profit manufacturing, IT, sales, real estate, and transportation industries. Amy is currently working for two organizations in part time financial management positions, including The Rubinoff Company and Allegheny County Library Association, where she manages all financial aspects of these organizations. At ACLA, she is also providing accounting services to 16 libraries. At the Rubinoff Company she is the controller for real estate properties across Pittsburgh.
Prior to this, Amy worked at a variety of organizations including City of Asylum Pittsburgh, Urban Innovation21, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, Bethlehem Haven, Carnegie Science Center, Sears Home Improvement Products, Baker Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Amy has her MBA from Barnard M. Baruch College in NY and BS from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Sally Rafson can be reached at sally@sharingourstory.com