When Bearing Witness®: Becoming a Trauma-Informed Storyteller

The When Bearing Witness® podcast is an invitation to explore trauma-informed storytelling, a safe and healthy process of gathering and telling painful stories. Join my conversations with trauma-informed experts and fellow social-good storytellers as we help shape the intersection of trauma-informed care and the storytelling process. Stories are sacred, and we can create a safe space to tell and share them.

When Bearing Witness®: Becoming a Trauma-Informed Storyteller is a business podcast hosted by Maria Bryan, with 58 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Maria Bryan hosts When Bearing Witness®: Becoming a Trauma-Informed Storyteller, a business show with 58 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #56

  Trauma-Informed Storytelling on the Fundraising Stage with Jenna Watanabe

  Aug 11, 202622 minS3

  Send us Fan Mail Fundraising events are often where nonprofit storytelling faces its highest stakes. The room is full, the energy is high, and there is real pressure to move people toward giving. In this episode, Maria sits down with Jenna Watanabe, Creative Director at The Fundraising Event Company, to talk about what it takes to build events that are moving without becoming extractive. Jenna shares the personal experience that shaped her approach to this work, and the two dig into what happens when consent gets lost in the momentum of a live event, why emotion does not have to mean sadness, and how joy and hope can carry as much weight as hardship. They also talk through practical protections for story owners, from video review to backup plans, and what it means to build a program that centers dignity at every stage. This conversation is a reminder that the most powerful moment on a fundraising stage is not the one that extracts the most emotion. It is the one that honors the person whose story made the room possible. About Jenna Watanabe Jenna Watanabe is the Creative Director at The Fundraising Event Co., where she helps nonprofits create meaningful, inclusive, and successful fundraising events. With a background in fundraising, marketing, project management, writing, and storytelling, she develops event scripts, speeches, video treatments, and marketing materials that bring each organization’s mission and impact to life. Connect with Jenna Watanabe The Fundraising Event Company | Instagram 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

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #55

  Centering Safety in Human Trafficking Storytelling with Preston Goff

  Jul 7, 202632 minS3

  Send us Fan Mail Storytelling in the anti-trafficking space carries a particular weight, where the urgency to communicate impact can pull against the responsibility to protect the very people whose stories are being told. Many nonprofit communicators working in this space are asking how to tell stories that move people to action without exploiting pain or compromising survivor safety. In this conversation, Preston Goff, Vice President of Global Communications at The Exodus Road, helps us explore what that balance looks like in practice. We discuss the organization's red lines around consent, why some of their most powerful stories involve months or years of waiting, and how holding firm boundaries with media partners can actually build deeper trust rather than cost opportunities. Preston shares real examples from this work, including a survivor's story that took shape only after she chose, unprompted, to share it herself. This episode is a grounded and honest look at what it means to communicate urgency without sensationalism, and what nonprofit storytellers can learn from an organization that has chosen protection over exposure, again and again. About Preston Goff As the Vice President of Global Communications at The Exodus Road, Preston Goff is an expert storyteller in the anti-trafficking space. During his five-year tenure at the organization, The Exodus Road's media efforts have expanded substantially, most recently with the launch of Influenced — a cutting-edge digital safety curriculum for youth and their caregivers. Preston Goff resides in Colorado Springs with his wife and two young children. Connect with Exodus Road and Preston Goff Exodus Road Website | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube Preston Goff Website | Instagram | 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

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #54

  Building a Nonprofit Story Bank With Consent and Care with Natalie Monroe

  Jun 8, 202620 minS3

  Send us Fan Mail In This Episode Nonprofit storytelling is changing. Organizations are being asked to think more carefully about how stories are gathered, who holds power in the storytelling process, and what it means to share stories with dignity, transparency, and ongoing consent. As more nonprofits move away from transactional testimonials and toward community-centered storytelling, many teams are still navigating how to do this work ethically while continuing to communicate impact. In this conversation, Natalie Monroe from MemoryFox helps us explore what this shift looks like in practice. We discuss the growing importance of story banks, strengths-based messaging, and giving story owners more agency over how and where their stories are shared. Natalie shares insights from her work supporting nonprofit teams through real-world storytelling challenges, including navigating sensitive stories and creating systems that help organizations gather stories with greater care. This episode is an honest and hopeful conversation about the future of ethical and trauma-informed storytelling in the nonprofit sector. About Natalie Monroe Natalie Monroe is the Community Engagement Manager at MemoryFox. After a career in the wine industry learning the nuances of Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, she landed in a nonprofit with the military-to-agriculture movement. Natalie told the stories of veterans turned farmers feeding our country. Here she embraced content creation and the power of video messaging. Natalie is grateful to engage in mission-driven work every day. A friend of Natalie once dubbed her the “people broker” because she thrives on introducing friends to each other and engaging in meaningful conversation. When she’s not immersed in storytelling, you might find her volunteering with the local library friends in her community of Davis, California or pondering her next themed gathering. Connect with Natalie Monroe LinkedIn | Learn More About MemoryFox 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

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #53

  The Mid-Year Reset Your Storytelling Practice Might Need

  May 12, 202611 minS3

  Send us Fan Mail By this point in the year, storytelling can start to feel different. You’re still showing up to the interviews, the deadlines, the back and forth. But something begins to shift. A story lingers longer than you expect. A decision stays with you after it’s made. You start to notice the weight of the work in a way that’s harder to ignore. In this episode, I’ll explore with you what it means to arrive at that moment, not as something to fix, but as something to pay attention to. Together, we name the parts of storytelling that often go unspoken. The emotional load that builds over time. The tension between urgency and care. The quiet ways decision fatigue can shape how stories are gathered and shared. If your work has been feeling heavier lately, this conversation is an invitation to pause, reflect, and consider what a more supported, sustainable storytelling practice might look like from here. 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

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #52

  How Ethical Storytelling Becomes a Movement With Diana Farias Heinrich

  Apr 14, 202615 minS3

  Send us Fan Mail Diana, CEO of Habrá Marketing and creator of the Equastory framework, joins us for a conversation about what it takes for trauma-informed storytelling to become more than an individual practice. It becomes a movement when people begin challenging harmful norms, building new practices together, and treating consent, privacy, and agency as shared responsibilities. We explore how the stories we share can shape not only audience understanding, but a story owner’s sense of safety long after something is published. We reflect on what it means to tell stories with people, not about them, and why lasting change requires community, accountability, and ongoing practice. About Diana Farias Heinrich Diana Farias Heinrich (she/her) is the CEO of Habrá Marketing and a champion of ethical nonprofit storytelling. Through her Equastory™ framework and The Ethical Nonprofit Summit, she actively safeguards equality, respect, and dignity in nonprofit communications while helping organizations raise funds with integrity. She's a certified Advocate for Survivors of Domestic Violence and for DEI in the Workplace. Diana's proud to be a mom and wife and has supported women in Ghana in starting a sustainable clean water business. Get Your Ethical Nonprofit Tix! Register for the Ethical Nonprofit Summit at ethicalnonprofitsummit.com , and use the code MARIABRYAN15 to save $15 on your ticket. 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

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on When Bearing Witness®: Becoming a Trauma-Informed Storyteller. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.