Megan Wells, President
Megan Wells
has been a professional touring storytelle
r for thirty years. Prior to “converting” to the art of stories, Megan worked professionally as a director and actress in Chicago’s theaters.
She was Board President for Illinois Storytelling Inc. as it transitioned from an outdoor tent festival to our new digs at Dominican University.
Megan passed the Board Presidency on and became an official member of the Advisory Board then re-joined the board officially again in 2018 becoming president in 2022. Megan also serves on the Northlands Storytelling Network board as well as three theater boards "back in the day."
Megan loves storytelling, lives storytelling AND has a twenty-year background in corporate training; software, communication and presentation skills. Her website is: www.meganwells.com
Margaret Burk, Treasurer
Margaret Burk brings decades of performance, teaching, and producing experience to her storytelling programs and workshops. With a B.A. in Theatre and an M.A. in Communication, she has taught theatre at Kennedy King College in Chicago and was a founding member of the Bread and Roses Theatre Company. From 1990–2002, she was also Director of Development for the Chicago Sinfonietta and was named one of the “100 Women Making a Difference” in Today’s Chicago Woman magazine.
After a career in arts administration, Margaret returned to her first love—the spoken word. She performs throughout the Chicago area, co-produces Back Room Stories, a monthly storytelling show.
Margaret believes in the power of story not only to entertain, but to touch the heart, spark the imagination, and embolden the spirit. She has three grown sons and four grandsons, and lives with her husband in Oak Park, Illinois. Her website is: www.margaretburk.com
Margaret believes in the power of story not only to entertain, but to touch the heart, spark the imagination, and embolden the spirit. She has three grown sons and four grandsons, and lives with her husband in Oak Park, Illinois. Her website is: www.margaretburk.com
Kelly Campos, Director
It was a time of unprecedented despair. Climate change, political unrest, and people posting without verifying a news source was wreaking havoc on the region.
Enter: Kelly Campos. Mild mannered Children’s Librarian by day; musician, performer, and lover of tiny boxes by night. Relying on her checkered past (Second City Detroit Mainstage performer, rock singer/songwriter, 6th grade ballerina, and former Kinko’s Copy Specialist) Kelly is now committed to bringing her best to the stage and saving the world one story at a time.
Dot Cleveland, Administrator
Email: info@storytelling.org
Janice Del Negro, VP
Janice M. Del Negro, PhD, is a professor at the School of Information Studies at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. Educator, author, and coach, she has been a featured storyteller and presenter at the National Storytelling Conference, the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Northlands Storytelling Conference, the Mariposa Storytelling Festival, the National Storytelling Festival, the Moonshell Storytelling Festival, the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference, the Tejas Storytelling Festival, and many other celebratory events.
Her book, Folktales Aloud: Practical Tips for Playful Storytelling was awarded a Storytelling World Resource Award in 2015. Her recent title, Engaging Teens with Story: How to Inspire and Educate Youth with Storytelling (2017) with Dr. Melanie Kimball, received a Storytelling World Resource Award and was named SLC/ARBA’s “Best Professional Resource for School or Youth Librarians.”
Del Negro collaborated with Ellin Greene on the fourth edition of the classic storytelling textbook, Storytelling: Art & Technique (2010), and is the editor of the fifth edition, published in 2021.
In 2016, Del Negro received the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence Award, “presented to artists who are recognized by their peers to be master storytellers who set the standards for excellence and have demonstrated, over a significant period of time, a commitment and dedication to the art of storytelling.”
She currently produces Traditions and Truth: A Virtual Open Mic for Folktales, Fairy Tales, and Personal Stories, a cooperative program between Dominican University and Illinois Storytelling, Inc. Along with Megan Wells, Del Negro produces MoonShine Stories, a curated concert series held on the full moon of every month.
She currently produces Traditions and Truth: A Virtual Open Mic for Folktales, Fairy Tales, and Personal Stories, a cooperative program between Dominican University and Illinois Storytelling, Inc. Along with Megan Wells, Del Negro produces MoonShine Stories, a curated concert series held on the full moon of every month.
Jane Dorfman, Director
Jane Dorfman is a performing member and president of Voices-in-the-Glen and a member of the National Storytelling Network and on the program committee for the Washington Folk Festival."
She has taught Storytelling in the graduate school of the University of Maryland. She has told at the Smithsonian Institution and on "Stories in Focus" local television. She is a repeat teller at the Washington Folk Festival and Voices-in-the-Glen Festival and to storytelling classes at The University of Maryland and Catholic University. She's told stories at the Virginia Celtic Festival, Rockville Festival of the Arts, The Elva Van Winkle Memorial Storytelling Festival and others. She has conducted workshops on how to get started storytelling.
Rachel Ann Harding, Director
Rachel Ann Harding is a traditional storyteller and is passionate about telling the most beautiful folk, myth, and traditional tales.
In 2018 she was a featured storyteller for the Exchange Place at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. She is the creator and producer of the Story Story Podcast, which showcases traditional storytelling from around the world. Rachel Ann believes that fairytales are for all ages.