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In today’s episode of When Bearing Witness, we step into a conversation that sits at the heart of trauma-informed storytelling: what happens when a story intended to inspire instead causes harm, and how we move toward repair. Storytelling is powerful, but it is never neutral. When nonprofits share personal experiences without care, consent, or curiosity, those choices can leave deep emotional and relational wounds. This episode honors the truth that repair is possible, but only when we slow down enough to acknowledge harm and choose a different path forward.

Joining me for this vulnerable and necessary conversation is Rachel D’Souza, the founder of Gladiator Consulting and a proud member of the Community-Centric Fundraising Global Council. Rachel’s work centers on radical collaboration, racial equity, social justice, and decolonization, and her advocacy is deeply informed by her own lived experience of having her story misused for fundraising.

We explore what accountability can look like, why harm repair matters, and how nonprofit storytellers can move toward practices rooted in dignity, agency, and healing.

About Rachel D'Souza

Rachel D'Souza, MPPA, MLS is the founder of Gladiator Consulting in St. Louis, MO, a boutique firm co-creating with nonprofits across the country. As a proud member of the Community-Centric Fundraising Global Council, Rachel works to guide and resource a global initiative to reimagine the nonprofit sector through a lens of radical collaboration, racial equity, social justice, and decolonization. In 2024, Rachel completed her coursework to earn her second Master's Degree at the Washington University School of Law. With this additional training in negotiation, mediation, and cross-cultural conflict resolution, Rachel is eager to shift organizational culture and interpersonal relationships in the direction of healing, collaboration, and systems change.

Connect with Rachel D'Souza

Gladiatorrds Website | 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.

Connect with Maria

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Nonprofit storytellers are tasked with sharing stories that move people to act, yet we also carry the responsibility of protecting the dignity and agency of those whose stories we tell. And when we are working on the outside of an organization, as contractors or consultants, the power to ensure ethical and trauma-informed practices can feel limited.

So, how do we uphold care and consent when we are not the final decision makers?

In this episode, we are joined by Kristi Scott, an email marketing consultant who helps small nonprofits transform email campaigns from ineffective to impactful. Rooted in community-centric fundraising and a commitment to equity, Kristi shares how to write emails that are strategic, relational, and rooted in respect, not exploitation, guilt, or false urgency.

We talk about leading by example, planting seeds for organizational change, and building systems that protect story owners long after the first publication.

About Kristi Scott

Kristi Scott is an email marketing and fundraising consultant who works with small nonprofits to transform email campaigns from ineffective to impactful. She has been in the nonprofit sector for more than 15 years in programs, fundraising, and marketing. Her consulting work is rooted in community-centric fundraising, and she is professionally and personally committed to Black liberation and equity for all. Kristi holds an MBA in Marketing with honors and has worked in small businesses, startups, and corporate sales. She was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, the traditional lands of the Tongva (Gabrieleno) peoples.

Connect with Kristi Scott

Fundraising Email Fix | Website | 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.

Connect with Maria

Speaking & Training | LinkedIn | Email

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Content Warning: Michelle briefly talks about the death of a loved one. Be mindful of your emotional capacity as you listen in.

Storytelling in the nonprofit world is a powerful act of witness, but it can also take a quiet toll. When we listen to story after story of grief, injustice, or survival, our bodies absorb more than we realize.

This is vicarious trauma, the invisible weight that settles in when we hold space for other people’s pain without tending to our own. Many storytellers and mission-driven leaders find themselves emotionally exhausted not because they don’t care, but because they care deeply and continuously.

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Michelle Vande Hay, a Certified Holistic Life Coach and Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator who works with leaders and teams navigating compassion fatigue, overgiving, and burnout. Michelle helps mission-driven professionals reconnect with their bodies, their purpose, and their boundaries so they don’t lose themselves in the work they feel called to do.

Together, we explore how vicarious trauma shows up in our daily lives and how honoring stories also means honoring the storytellers. This conversation is an invitation to notice what your body carries and to consider that caring well for others begins with caring well for yourself.

About Michelle Vande Hay
Michelle is a Certified Holistic Life Coach & Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator. She empowers mission-driven leaders and teams to overcome the culture of overgiving and self-sacrifice so they don’t lose themselves in their mission. Michelle guides leaders & teams to overcome compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout. Through holistic coaching, trauma-sensitive yoga, and breathwork, clients connect more deeply to themselves, their mission, and their community, which creates long-lasting, sustainable impact.

Connect with Michelle Vande Hay

Download the Self-Care Cheat Sheet | Website | Love Your Life On Purpose Community | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube

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