Kristin Steele
Owner/Director Operations & Communications
Swaim Strategies
@SwaimStrategies

Kristin Steele

I am a writer by trade and have been a nonprofit advocate in Portland, Oregon for 24 years, teaching adult community writing workshops and playwriting for at-risk youth.

I believe that one of the bravest things we can do is tell our stories, and then listen as others tell theirs. It is what connects us, strengthens us and makes change possible. It makes us a we, and that’s a powerful place to operate from.

The most impactful events take rooms full of individuals and band them together around a cause. I founded Swaim Strategies 12 years ago to work with nonprofits and elevate their event fundraising by improving how they tell their story.

My favorite storyteller is...

...Quiet communicates a lot. My grandfather mastered the silence in stories—the space that gives you time to realize who you are in the story and how you feel. In the quiet of his stories I was usually perched on his lap, in a creaky recliner, feeling the rise and fall of his breath. It was where we leaned in and shared our hearts.His stories were entertaining versions of my mom’s escapades as a child filled with details of our family lore. Through his choice of story and his way of telling it, he was actually sharing his own family love story, underscoring moments at the end of his life that were important to him.

For me, that’s what good storytellers bring: themselves.

Connect with me online:

website:  http://swaimstrategies.com

twitter: ​@SwaimStrategies

Connect with me in person:

I'll be presenting at the 2016 Nonprofit Storytelling Conference.  

Come join me. Click here