We’ll help make Disability Positive Storytelling part of the puzzle when it comes to realizing your agency’s mission.

Storytelling has long helped drive positive social change. This training will provide a brief look at how storytelling has helped spark change in the disability right movement, and why it matters to tell stories on a local level. The remainder of the session will focus on understanding how we as storytellers can shape narratives that will either positively or negatively impact a person’s life longterm. Participants will gain deeper knowledge on how to use disability positive language in their work, and the importance of employing storytelling strategically in their workplace culture, marketing, and beyond.

Ultimately, participants will leave with an awareness on how stories might aid them in turning their vision of a more inclusive future into a reality. 

OBJECTIVES:

1. Participants will understand what disability positive storytelling is and how it can be used in their own work

2. Participants will understand the language that attracts, distracts, or repels people from one another 

3. Participants will identify how storytelling has been used to spark social movements nationally, and why it matters on a local level

4. Participants will discover ways to use storytelling as an aid to realizing their values and mission

“Katie brings her own passion for inclusion and storytelling to the work - and pulls people together in a way that has everyone feeling heard and valued.” 

— Jo Krippenstapel, Consultant to Hamilton County Board of Developmental Disabilities and Home Think Tank Facilitator 

FACILITATORS

Katie Bachmeyer, Founder of Bachmeyer Press 

I co-create stories alongside people and organizations, helping to reveal their truest narrative and celebrate change. Over the course of my career, I have been witness to stories of people with trauma histories, citizens with labels of disability, social justice seekers, neighbors, parents, and young people on a path to mental wellness. Every new story I hear is another reminder that this is my life's purpose, and human beings are amazing.

My education is life-long and includes anthropology, video production, journalism, the science of storytelling, trauma-informed care, mindfulness, cultural-humility, ethnography, asset-based community development, design thinking, and social role valorization (SRV).

I am a 2021 School Board School alumnus, 2020 Science of Storytelling alumnus, 2010 Fulbright Scholar, and a Certified Yoga Instructor. I'm also an endurance cyclist, Girl Scout dropout, and once worked at a canning factory in Alaska.  What's your story?

Candice Jones Peelman, Co-Facilitator

I am a former non-profit Executive Director, current Development Director, and aspiring novelist. My career in human-services led to organizational change, and shifted the way we/I talk, support, and think about community and the inclusion of people with disabilities. I hold a Masters in Educational Studies from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelors of Arts degree from Xavier University.

I have contributed hundreds of written pieces across platforms - print, email, blog, social - to tell the story of organizations and people. I am an observer at heart - keeping lists of interesting observations in my phone: the gaudy jewelry worn by an elderly man at the grocery store, the ridiculous quotes and fictional characters my children make up, the way the driver stopped and touched the shoulder of a person cold, waiting for the bus, offering hot coffee. The human story, in all its triumph and tragedy, fascinates me.

I am a runner, chasing a 20-year old personal record, a tenderheart drawn to the bittersweet, a former beekeeper, and a lifelong Cincinnatian, living only 2.5 miles away from where four generations of my family, including myself, grew up.