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What happens when storytelling isn’t just about raising awareness or driving donations, but about creating a space where survivors can be truly seen, heard, and supported?

On today’s episode of When Bearing Witness, I sit down with Anne Ream, founder of The Center for Story & Witness. Anne has spent two decades alongside survivors of gender-based violence, facilitating writing workshops and initiatives that honor lived experience while protecting the dignity and agency of each storyteller.

We discuss what she has learned about the healing potential of storytelling, how to create trauma-informed spaces that prioritize care, and the fine line between empowerment and exploitation in nonprofit storytelling.

About Anne K. Ream

Anne K. Ream is the founder of The Voices and Faces Project, a global testimonial writing program for survivors of gender-based violence and other human rights violations (now Center for Story & Witness); co-founder of World Without Exploitation, the national coalition to end human trafficking; and author of Lived Through This, a critically praised memoir that documents Anne’s multi-country journey listening to sexual violence and trafficking survivors. The recipient of numerous awards for her work using story to create social change, Anne is a regular contributor to New City Chicago and currently serves as board president at Justice for Migrant Women.

Connect with Anne K. Ream

Center for Story and Witness | Story and Witness Instagram | Anne K Ream Instagram | Anne K Ream LinkedIn

About Host Maria Bryan

Maria Bryan is a trauma-informed storytelling trainer. She helps nonprofit leaders tell powerful and impactful stories that resist harm. Maria has over fifteen years in marketing communications in the public sector. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, and is professionally certified in Trauma & Resilience, Trauma-Informed Space Holding, Trauma-Informed Coaching, and Somatic Embodiment & Regulation. Maria is a firm believer that storytellers make the world a healthier, safer, cleaner, and happier place.

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Speaking & Training | LinkedIn | Email

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What does it look like to practice trauma-informed storytelling behind the camera?

In this episode of When Bearing Witness, filmmaker Heidi Burkey shares how she approaches documentary work with care and a deep respect for those she films. With projects featured on Netflix, Hulu, PBS, and Disney+, Heidi brings powerful insights into ethical storytelling practices that nonprofit leaders and communicators can learn from.

Together, we explore the parallels between documentary filmmaking and nonprofit storytelling, especially when it comes to navigating consent, power dynamics, and cultural context. Heidi reflects on moments in her career where doing what’s right meant stepping back, collaborating with community members, and rethinking her role as a storyteller. Her approach is a model for nonprofit communication ethics—one that prioritizes safety, transparency, and trust at every stage of the process.

About Heidi Burkey

Heidi Burkey is a seasoned documentary filmmaker specializing in character-driven stories with a passion for highlighting underrepresented individuals and communities. Through verité-led filmmaking, she strives to create films that offer a nuanced and empathetic perspective. As a filmmaker, she is known for her ability to quickly establish trust with individuals and adapt to the unique cultures and communities represented. Her films have been distributed on platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Max, PBS, and Amazon.

Connect with Heidi Burkey

Website | Instagram | From Reflection to Release Framework | Ethical Storytelling

About Host Maria Bryan

Maria Bryan is a trauma-informed storytelling trainer. She helps nonprofit leaders tell powerful and impactful stories that resist harm. Maria has over fifteen years in marketing communications in the public sector. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, and is professionally certified in Trauma & Resilience, Trauma-Informed Space Holding, Trauma-Informed Coaching, and Somatic Embodiment & Regulation. Maria is a firm believer that storytellers make the world a healthier, safer, cleaner, and happier place.

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In this episode of When Bearing Witness, Dr. Desmond Upton Patton invites us into a conversation about humility, listening, and the ethics of digital storytelling. He shares what he has learned from years of research at the intersection of social work, technology, and racial justice.

And he doesn’t stop at analysis, he challenges us to examine our own assumptions and shows how deep listening can disrupt bias and reshape how we understand digital expression.

A researcher, social worker, and AI ethicist, Dr. Patton explores how grief is often misread as aggression, and how those misreadings can escalate both online and offline violence. But the solutions, he reminds us, are not just technical, they are relational. He offers a model of trauma-informed storytelling rooted in cultural humility, reflexivity, and active listening.

We all bring our own lens to storytelling. But to do this work ethically, especially in nonprofit storytelling and storytelling for social impact, we have to slow down and ask hard questions: Am I the right person to tell this story? What information is missing? Who do I need to engage with, and how do I do that in a trustworthy and ethical way?

About Dr. Desmond Upton Patton

Dr. Desmond Upton Patton is a leading expert at the intersection of social work, technology, and racial justice, known for his groundbreaking research on how social media impacts grief, trauma, and violence in communities of color. A Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor with appointments across social policy, communication, and psychiatry, he developed the Contextual Analysis of Social Media (CASM) to address bias in AI by centering cultural nuance and lived experience. His work has shaped national conversations on digital violence and empathy, informed tech safety policies at companies like Twitter and Spotify, and been featured in The New York Times, Nature, and NPR.

Connect with Dr. Desmond Upton Patton

SafeLab | LinkedIn | BlueSky

About Host Maria Bryan

Maria Bryan is a trauma-informed storytelling trainer. She helps nonprofit leaders tell powerful and impactful stories that resist harm. Maria has over fifteen years in marketing communications in the public sector. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, and is professionally certified in Trauma & Resilience, Trauma-Informed Space Holding, Trauma-Informed Coaching, and Somatic Embodiment & Regulation. Maria is a firm believer that storytellers make the world a healthier, safer, cleaner, and happier place.

Connect with Maria

Speaking & Training | LinkedIn | Email