Us Together: Cultivating Belonging, Trust, and Connection via Storytelling

This session will map out my own journey as an immigrant and Asian American storyteller and delineate how my personal stories reflect social concerns of our time. It includes my experiences as a community builder who engages in the practice of community-based storytelling and brings people and communities together through story-sharing. This session aims to provide participants with the foundational skill set and knowledge to build intimate and trusting spaces through storytelling. Most importantly, Ada will show how our stories are connected and how we can strengthen our shared humanity through integrating the practice of sharing stories.

The session will start with Ada sharing her personal stories as an immigrant, as an Asian in diaspora, and as an Asian American in Illinois. After that, she will discuss the principles central to the practice of storytelling, such as trust, vulnerability, connection, empathy, compassion, and shared humanity. She will create a trusting space for participants to share their stories as well, thus demonstrating how to forge connections through our shared similarities and build bridges despite our differences.

The following questions will be explored:

• Why is storytelling important to our understanding of the connection between our personal and collective existence?
• How can we use personal and community stories to illustrate our shared humanity despite differences?
• How do we use storytelling to cultivate a sense of belonging, trust, and connection among all?

Participants are encouraged to arrive a few minutes early to get settled and help maintain a calm, trusting space for story-sharing.