past storytelling salons
From December 2015, when the first salon was hosted, gatherings have featured engaging storytellers and unique themes— ranging from Design & Architecture to Social Justice to Cybersecurity. On this page, you can find a complete list of past salons, along with additional information on some of the storytellers.
2020
LOSS AND LIFE: CREATING STORIES OF HUMAN SURVIVAL
Our latest virtual Salon – Loss and life: Creating Stories of Human Survival – featured two internationally acclaimed writers, Julia Alvarez and Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. Our storytellers shared how they have translated life experiences into stories that help us get through challenging times like these. We learned the power of stories and language to unite us, even when it feels like we are divided and apart. Proceeds from this Salon went to two organizations selected by our storytellers in their countries of origin: the Mariposa DR Foundation and the Chắp Cánh Ước Mơ (Making Dreams Come True).
Disease detectives: clinical care and communication in the time of covid-19
We were delighted to kick off our VIRTUAL Salon series with a focus on the Covid-19 Pandemic in the US with Dr. Celine Gounder and Dr. Ingrid Katz shared their stories—how they became infectious disease specialists, what they do with this training and how they use their infectious disease expertise in a public health crisis. Some snippets from their stories: becoming infectious disease specialists through a social justice lens (not easy!), communicating clear information and building trust at a time like this (critical), taking risks and listening to their gut feelings as they progressed through their careers (essential advice), not caring about what others think & being a stubborn optimist (resilience).
2019
Dynamic Duo: Charting the way forward in Education
The Salon was held as a private fundraiser and featured the Head of School and Deputy Head of School of the Washington International School in Washington DC. Suzanna Jemsby and Natasha Bhalla shared their stories of how they entered the education sector and developed their careers in this field, with a focus on creating global citizens.
2018
Data Detectives: Cybersecurity and the Business of Protecting Your Data
This Salon featured Shue-Jane Thompson, Vice President & Partner, Cyber Security and Biometrics (C&B) Service Line for the IBM Public Service (PS) Global Business Services, and Nicole Gardner, Vice President in IBM’s Global Business Services (GBS) and leader of the Public Services Eminence Academy.
Shape Shifters: Translating Experience from Medicine to Politics
This Salon featured Dr. Shannon Hader, a medical doctor, scientist, and public health expert, and Dr. Nadia Hashimi, a pediatrician, an internationally bestselling author, a first generation Afghan-American, and a public speaker.
The Confidence Code: What Women Should Know about Self Assurance
This Salon featured Katty Kay, anchor of BBC World News America, based in Washington DC. She is also a frequent contributor to Meet the Press and Morning Joe. She is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Womenomics. Her new books, also with Claire Shipman, are The Confidence Code for Girls, and New York Times bestseller, The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self Assurance - What Women Should Know.
Righting The Wrong through Social Justice: Gender, Race and Immigration
This Salon featured our first ever mother-daughter storyteller pair: Geeta Rao Gupta, Executive Director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation, and Nayna Gupta, an Immigration Defense Attorney at the Immigration Representation Unit of the Alameda County Public Defender's Office, California, who represents low-income individuals facing deportation in immigration and federal courts.
2017
Transforming Space Through Design & Architecture
This Salon featured two women who work at global design and architecture firm, Gensler. Sumita Arora, serves as the Firmwide Media Practice Area Leader, a Studio Director, and Principal, and Amy Weinstein, serves as a Residential Practice Co-Leader.
Democratizing Philanthropy One #Person At A Time!
This Salon featured Dale Nirvani Pfeifer, President & CEO of Goodworld, and Mari Kuraishi, Co-Founder & President of GlobalGiving.
Just Do It: Social Enterprise, Technology and the Syrian Crisis
This Salon featured two wonderful storytellers: Bailey Ulbricht, who heads the nonprofit Paper Airplanes, and Sarah Geselowitz, a software engineer at Taskstream-Tk20.
Diplomatic Women: Foreign Policy and Public Service
This Salon featured two former Assistant Secretaries of State, Nisha Desai Biswal and Bathesheba Crocker.
2016
Passionate Storytelling: Film, Social Justice & Visual Culture
This Salon featured two adventurous filmmakers—Hilary Linder and Montré Aza Missouri.
Influential Economists: International Policymaking and Economic Statecraft
This Salon featured two highly accomplished economists. Heidi Crebo-Rediker is currently Chief Executive Officer of International Capital Strategies, and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She previously served as the State Department’s first Chief Economist under Secretary Hillary Clinton. Kalpana Kochhar is currently a Deputy Director in the Asia and Pacific Department of the IMF and has been at the IMF for more than two decades.
Education Entrepreneurs: designing innovative models for transformative learning
This Salon featured two remarkable founding CEOs, Jeannine Piacenza and Irasema Salcedo. They have designed innovative education models that serve children in our metropolitan DC communities: one with a focus on pre-school bilingual education and the other, with a focus on building civic leadership and public policy skills in school.
2015
Community Catalysts: Changing lives one person at a time
This salon featured two CEO's who lead very special organizations in DC. Maria Gomez heads Mary’s Center, and Laura Meyers is the CEO of Planned Parenthood in the metro DC area. They took us through their journey as professionals who have worked to provide critical health, education and other services to women and their families.