Guests & Friends
Learn more about each of our conversations partners here. You can find our guests in the order they appeared on the podcast- from season 1 to now.
Each of these people has helped to make Stories Lived. Stories Told. a welcoming place for us and our stories. They do a lot of other cool things and you can get connected to them here.
Guest (Ep. 2)
Robbie Williford
Robbie is a writer, educator, and storyteller. He is a co-founder of Brave the cycle, which is an educational consultant, teaching individuals and businesses to cultivate belonging.
Guest (Ep. 5 & 114) & CMMI Steward
Dr. barbara Mckay
Barbara is a systemic psychotherapist, supervisor, and teacher. She has served on the Board of trustees for the Association for Family Therapy. Barbara works with social work leaders to enhance their systemic and communication abilities.
Rev. Sara hayden
Sara is the host of New way, the 1001 new worshipping communities podcast, which explores the connections between people, their communities and the ways that context shapes faith.
Guest (Ep. 22) & CMMI Fellow
alex jagiello
alex Jagiello is a recent graduate of the Columbia university teachers college. She is the founder of the art exchange and a program coordinator for the harlem children's zone. She is passionate about pursuing meaningful, intelligent, and loving connections.
miriam Kashia
Miriam is a former psychotherapist, peace corps volunteer, and current "climate action warrior." She walked the Great March for Climate Action, visited standing rock 3 times, has been arrested 4 times, and is a member of 100Grannies for a Livable Future.
Dr. Aline Mugisho
Aline is the Executive Manager of the Innovative Youth in Agriculture Project at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). She is an advocate and activist for women, youth, and those displaced from their homes.
madison gonzalez
Madison is the executive director of morning light inc., the author of dear mirror (a collection of poetry), and a public speaker and storyteller. Morning Light Inc. is a nonprofit in Indiana that provides end-of-life care to those in hospice at the abbie hunt bryce home.
dr. michelle colpean
Dr. Michelle Colpean is a professor, parent, and griever living in Cincinnati, OH. When she’s not teaching communication classes, she is probably playing with her daughter, working on a memorial project for her son Sami, or crafting grief charms for her Etsy shop.
Dr. Paul Porter
Dr. Paul Porter is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA). Paul has worked on the development of inclusivity programs and initiatives, diversity strategic plans and program assessments.
dr. Chris Wells
Dr. Chris Wells is a writer, social worker, and founder of the Dabrowski Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD). She's also the co-host of the Positive Disintegration Podcast.
emma nicholson
Emma nicholson is the co-host of the Positive Disintegration Podcast, and creates content for people learning about the Theory of Positive Disintegration for her website Tragic Gift, and YouTube channel, Adults With Overexcitabilities.
jennifer furlong
Jennifer Arvin Furlong is a communication/ media specialist, former communication professor, author, a TEDx speaker and coach, and host of the Communication TwentyFourSeven Podcast.
guest (Ep. 49) & CMMI Steward
sergej van middendorp
Sergej is an action researcher who wonders how we make healthy systems. he co-creates open standards and open source software to help foster collaboration and knowledge sharing in the fragmented Dutch Healthcare System.
Jeff Branch & ilene Wasserman
Dr. Ilene Wasserman is the Founder and President of ICW Consulting Group, LLc. Ilene is on the Board of Stewards for the CMM Institute. Dr. Jeff Branch, Principal with ICW Consulting Group, LLC is the program director for 2 graduate programs.
Dr. Mike Hemhill
Mike is Director of Leadership Development for the Clinton Foundation and co-directs the Presidential Leadership Scholars program. He is a Professor at the Clinton School of Public Service, teaching courses on communication and leadership.
Burton Patterson
Burton is a social worker with experience in the fields of Harm Reduction and Mental Health and Addiction, Sexual Violence Prevention, and Healthy Sexual Education. He specializes working with male-identifying folks in gender-based violence prevention.
Rebekah Taussig
Steven Fuller
Steven Fuller is a professor of communication at the University of Cincinnati. He hosts the Communication Junkie podcast, wrote The Church Experiment Book, and co-created the Good vs Gooder Game.
Diane Grimes
Diane Grimes is an associate professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University and co-author of Through the Lens of Whiteness: Challenging Racialized Imagery in Pop Culture. She works to encourage the mindful and critical interrogation of unexamined assumptions around issues of race.
Liz Cooney
Liz Cooney is a queer writer, facilitator, and speaker from Des Moines, Iowa. Her work focuses on helping people communicate more effectively through valuing differences and navigating difficult conversations. She is co-author of Through the Lens of Whiteness: Challenging Racialized Imagery in Pop Culture.
guest (Ep. 71 & 72 & 88) & CMMI Steward
Dr. Beth FIsher-Yoshida
Beth Fisher-Yoshida (PhD, CCS) is Program Director of the MS in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program, Chair of Advanced Consortium for Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) at Columbia University. She is the author of New Story New Power: A Woman's Guide to Negotiation.
Bart Buechner, Phd
Barton Buechner is the Interim Director and a founding faculty member of the Military Psychology MA program at Adler University. He is a 1978 graduate of the US Naval Academy, and earned an MA in Organization Development and Assessment degree from Case Western Reserve University (1993) and PhD from Fielding Graduate University (2014).
Terry Strauss
Terry Strauss is a producer, writer, and director. Her documentaries include, AS IF THEY WERE ANGELS, ULTIMATE RESTORATIONS, I WISH I WERE A PRINCESS, and her current project WHAT NOW? CANARIES IN CAMO, which focuses on the struggles of our veterans to reintegrate and truly come home, and the necessity of civilian engagement and responsibility.
guest (Ep. 75 & 76)
Romi Boucher
Romi Boucher has been an executive coach, strategic change consultant, and designer of leadership programs and organizational development change initiatives for over 30 years. Her coaching approach addresses what it takes to lead and adapt innovatively in three dimensions; as organizations, in management teams and as individual leaders.
CMMI Steward & Host (Ep. 77 & 78)
Marit Eikaas Haavimb, (CQSW, Cand.Mag., MABPSS)
Marit is a partly retired social worker, educator, and a lifelong learner. She is a co-developer of CosmoKidz. She has written books and chapters on self-development and communication. She has offered valuable mentorship and friendship to Abbie.
Guest (Ep. 79)
Fatima Razvi
Fatima is 19 years old, lives in the united States, and is attending university. she is studying psychology, as well as counseling and human services, with the goal of pursuing a career in school counseling. Fatima is one of five CosmoTeenz Fellows, sponsored by the CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution.
Guest (Ep. 80)
Haruka Suwabe
Haruka Suwabe is 17 years old and lives in the United states. She is one of five CosmoTeenz Fellows. She is interested in working in the STEM field, she is passionate about international connections, and she uses a biology lens to understand mental health.
Guest (Ep. 81)
Johanna Bach Dall
Johanna is one of five CosmoTeenz Fellows. She is 19 years old and lives in Denmark. Johanna is interested in the structures of society and politics. She hopes to pursue a career in politics. At the time of publishing ep. 81, Johanna is taking a sabbatical year after completing high school and working at a kindergarten.
Guest (Ep. 82)
Mablealexis Jackson
Mablealexis is one of five CosmoTeenz Fellows. She is 23 years old, lives in the United States, and is attending university. She is pursuing a major in Political Science with a minor in Business. She loves to spend time with family and friends and finds serving her community very rewarding.
Guest (Ep. 83)
Tumelo Victoria eikaas
Tumelo Victoria is one of five CosmoTeenz Fellows. She is 19 years old, lives in Norway, and is currently working and taking a gap year after completing her last year of high school. She has been involved with other projects by the cmm institute, including CosmoKidz and CosmoTweenz.
Guest (Ep. 84)
hesitantdoodle (Sidney Mcleod)
Hesitantdoodle is a nonbinary illustrator and comic artist located in scotland. They are the creator and co-producer of the web series Creating Comics UK and judged the LDComics Awards in 2021. You can find their art on their website, twitter, and instagram.
Guest (Ep. 85)
caitlin Metz
Caitlin Metz (they/them) is an author, chronic project starter, designer and illustrator, parent, and big feeler. Caitlin is the co-author of My Body, My Home and the author of Feel Something, Make Something. You can find their work on Patreon, Instagram, and Etsy.
Guest (Ep. 87)
Riley Carroll
Riley Carroll is a 26-year old cat mom, thinker, and author from Chicago. Since completing her master’s in Communication in 2022, Riley has strived to live authentically, imagine new ways of being, and make space for joy which helped lead to the release of her debut novel, What the Blood Sings.
Guest (Ep. 89)
Dr. Leah Leach
Leah Leach is the founder of Gal's Guide, the first women's history lending library in the
United States. She is a teacher, author, and Buddhist. She is also one of the hosts of the Gal's Guide to the Galaxy Podcast.
Guest (Ep. 90)
Sarah Urech
Sarah Urech is senior strategist and a founding staff member of the Omega Women's Leadership Center (OWLC), part of the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. Sarah has performed with Hudson River Playback Theatre since 1994 and has taught this improvisational storytelling theatre 20 countries.
Guest (Ep. 92)
Mark Edwards
Mark Edwards is a 76-year-old naturalist, is a leader in BeWildReWild and its Big River Connectivity project, and is retired from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, where he lead restoration efforts for 30 years. You can join the "Rewilding Iowa and Beyond" Facebook Group to connect.
Guest (Ep. 93)
Yolanda Soto
Yolanda Soto has been the CEO President of Borderlands Produce Rescue for 30 years. Borderlands Produce Rescue is located in the border community of Nogales, Arizona and goes beyond the limits of traditional Food Banks by addressing the issue of food waste at the intersection of hunger.
Guest (Ep. 95)
sikowis nobiss
Sikowis Nobiss (she/her) is Nêhiyaw/Saulteaux of the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. She is the founder and Executive Director of Great Plains Action Society and is an organizer, speaker, writer and an artist. She fights for a better future for her two young children.
Guest (Ep. 96)
Abrah Dresdale
Abrah Dresdale, MA, consults through the national organization she co-founded, Regenerate Change, serves as faculty at UMass-Amherst and Omega Institute, and is the author of Regenerative Design for Changemakers: A Social Permaculture Guide.
Guest (Ep. 97)
Dora rodriguez
Dora Rodriguez is an unwavering advocate for migrant rights. She serves as the Director of Salvavision, a nonprofit offering aid and support to migrants and deportees.
Guest (Ep. 98)
karen gonzalez
Karen Gonzalez is an immigrant advocate, who immigrated from Guatemala as a child. She has written The God Who Sees: Immigrants, The Bible, and the Journey to Belong and Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in our Christian Response to Immigration.
Guest (Ep. 99)
sandy ovalle Martínez
Sandy Ovalle Martínez is a table-setter and space-curator, rooting her work in the deep faith and strength of Chicane and Latine spiritual teachers. She is a native of Mexico City. she oversees mobilization and activist engagement around different justice areas in.
Guest (Ep. 100)
janie mac
Janie Mac is a co-founder of Refugee Community Kitchen, a volunteer-run organization that has been serving hot, nourishing meals to those fleeing war, poverty, persecution and climate change and living in Northern France and the UK since 2015.
Guest (Ep. 101)
Aminata Cairo, Ph.D.
Aminata Cairo is an anthropologist, psychologist, educator, storyteller, and “love-worker”. She is an independent consultant “who works with people." She is the author of Holding Space: A Storytelling Approach to Trampling Diversity and Inclusion.
Guest (Ep. 102)
Michael Allison
Michael Allison is the developer of The Play Zone; a contributing author for Psychology Today with his platform, The Pressure Paradox; and an educational partner with Polyvagal Institute.
Guest (Ep. 103)
john chetro szivos
John Chetro Szivos is a semi-retired professor and an active author who recently published On Becoming a Critical Thinker: Awakening Your Business Superpower. He studied CMM with vern cronen at UMASS Amherst.
Guest (Ep. 104)
john Stewart
John Stewart is the author of Bridges Not Walls: A Book About Interpersonal Communication, Personal Communicating and Racial Equity, and Dismantling Racism One On One: Uniqueness Narrative Equity (2023).
Guest (Ep. 106)
emily kircher-morris
Emily Kircher-Morris, M.A., M.Ed., LPC, currently works as a mental health counselor in private practice. Emily is the author of “Teaching Twice-Exceptional Learners in Today's Classroom" and "Raising Twice-Exceptional Children: A Handbook for Parents of Neurodivergent Gifted Kids”. Emily hosts The Neurodiversity Podcast.
Guest (Ep. 107)
Hannah Soyer
Hannah Soyer is a queer disabled writer living in the Midwest. She has written for nationally acclaimed publications and is the editor of The Ending Hasn’t Happened Yet: An Anthology of Disability Poetics. Her debut lyric memoir, Dreams in Which I'm Almost Human, is forthcoming from Red Hen Press. Hannah also happens to be a cat and chocolate enthusiast.
Guest (Ep. 108)
Jessica Engelking
Jessica Engelking (she/her) is a descendant of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. She has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Philosophy. She is the representation director for Great Plains Action Society. Jessica is the author of Peggy Flanagan: Ogimaa Kwe, Lieutenant Governor as part of the Minnesota Native American Lives series.
Guest (Ep. 110)
Spozhmay Oriya
Spozhmay Oriya is a PhD candidate in the Educational Psychology program with focus on collective trauma, faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. She has BA in psychology and MA in Education. Her research interests are collective trauma, war, and trauma-informed education. She has conducted research and has publications in international journals.
Guest (Ep. 111)
Emily Rutter
Emily Ruth Rutter is Professor of English, Associate Dean of the Honors College, and affiliate faculty in Women’s, Gender, and African American Studies at Ball State University. She is the author of four monographs, She is co-editor of Revisiting the Elegy in the Black Lives Matter Era, and the forthcoming Black Saturation: Selected Works of Stephen E. Henderson.
Guest (Ep. 113)
Gro Emmertsen Lund
Gro Emmertsen Lund is an independent scholar, education specialist, author and researcher. She has published a number of articles and books. Gro gives keynote speeches, teaches, holds presentations, and facilitates organizational and cultural development and change processes in schools, educational institutions, day care, health care, psychiatry and the social sector.
Guest (Ep. 115)
Laurie Budlong-Morse
Laurie Budlong-Morse is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and an AANE Certified Neurodiverse Couples Therapist with a private practice in Indianapolis; she also creates educational content and offers online services with a focus on mixed-neurotype relationships. Laurie holds training in postmodern and social constructionist methods of therapy and mindful self-compassion.
Guest (Ep. 116)
Kongit Farrell
Kongit Farrell is a licensed marriage and family therapist with specialties in conflict resolution, trauma, couples therapy, and human sexuality. She is the founder of the Center for Healthy Marriage, adjunct professor of Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University, and an alumna of the CMM Institute and AC4 Fellowship programs at Columbia University and serves on the executive board of YPO's Peace Action Network.