DENISE ATCHLEY (US)

Denise is the Co-Founder and Director of The Digital Storytelling Festival, an annual event that showcases the innovative work being created throughout the diverse areas of the digital storytelling community. She is also Director of Dana Atchley Productions Inc., a company specialising in consultation and production of digital storytelling projects. She serves on the board of the Digital Storytelling Association in the US.

TOM BANASZEWSKI (CHINA)

Tom Banaszewski has spent the last 12 years researching effective implementation of digital storytelling practices in classrooms. While a member of the Information Design and Technology program at Georgia Tech, Tom conducted one of the earliest qualitative studies of digital storytelling practices, and also looked at how teachers can use video games and comics to teach story elements.

CHUAH AI LIN (SINGAPORE)

Chuah Ai Lin's first loves were books and chasing butterflies and fish in green places. After a 20-year career in the oil service industry, she now integrates her early loves into her work as a professional storyteller, nature guide, licensed tourist guide, and teacher of enrichment courses. She draws on the natural world, history, culture and science for her stories.

ARIF CHOUDHURY (US)

Arif recently enthralled hundreds of high school students with real-life stories of his parents’ journeys and his growing up as a boy of complexion distinct in suburban Chicago. Arif is a featured storyteller for Just Stories and Racebridges, an organization dedicated to developing and creating stories that deal with ethnic identity, race relations, and that all differences are to be valued. He is also an Educational consultant on Muslim identity – especially Muslim American identity – and interfaith relations.

ALTON CHUNG (US)

Alton grew up with superstition and magic of the Hawaiian Islands. His Japanese and Korean roots gave him a unique perspective and helped him narrate cultural tales and personal stories with deep sense of reverence and authenticity. Although Alton enjoys recounting true Japanese-American stories of the WWII period, his real passion has been the telling of ghost stories. In 2005, he was awarded the first JJ Reneaux Emerging Artist Award by the National Storytelling Network.

KEVIN CORDI (US)

A Fulbright scholar, Kevin is, as aptly cited for by the National Storytelling Network, "the first full time storytelling teacher in the country." He has coached an award-winning youth storytelling group entitled Voices of Illusion. Kevin, who is writing his dissertation in "dramatic inquiry and storytelling" – at the Ohio State University – is the founder of Y.E.S. (Youth, Educators, and Storytelling SIG). He was also an Executive Director of the National Youth Storytelling Showcase.

LINDA FANG (US)

Linda is the co-founder of the Washington Storyteller Theatre. Fluent in both Mandarin and English, she is the author of Ch’i-lin Purse - a collection of traditional Chinese folk tales. Linda has been captivating her listeners with delightful and thought-provoking stories from Chinese history, legends, folktales, and Chinese opera, featuring characters from several major historical periods: the Warring States, Han, Song, the Ming, and Qing Dynasties; as well as her own ancestors.

MABEL LEE (SINGAPORE)

Mabel Lee holds an Associate Diploma with Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). She runs a childcare centre where she teaches Speech and Drama. She tells stories to children, drawing on her Peranakan heritage whenever possible. In addition, she trains primary and secondary school children in storytelling, and enjoys being part of Talespin - a group of storytellers that performs for adults.

DOLLY LEOW (SINGAPORE)

Dolly is a former secondary school teacher and a piano teacher. She loves children and thoroughly enjoys working with them. In recent years she has become fascinated with Asian heritage especially Asian stories. Dolly tells stories in various venues, including libraries, museums and schools and performs regularly with Talespin – a group of storytellers who perform for adults.

DILIP MUKERJEA (SINGAPORE)

Dilip is the owner of ‘Braindancing International’ and “Buzan Centre Singapore Pte Ltd,” organisations dedicated to advancing human performance across multiple domains to significantly enhance one’s creative and innovative capacity. Dilip has been publicly acclaimed as “phenomenally creative and easily one of the world’s top ten Master Mind Mappers” by Tony Buzan himself. His accomplishments have found recognition in the Millennium Edition of Who’s Who of the World and in The Baron’s 500: Leaders for the New Century.

BOBBY NORFOLK (US)

Bobby is a three-time Emmy Award winner and a recipient of a Parents' Choice honour as one of the most popular and dynamic story-educators in the U.S. Bobby, once a standup comedian, worked for 10 years thereafter as a National Park Service Ranger, presenting historical and interpretive programs for school-groups and the community at large. From his positions as Park ranger to TV host, recording artist to author, Bobby has told stories that promote character, education, cultural diversity and self-esteem.

SHERRY NORFOLK (US)

With a B.S. in Elementary Education, and a Masters in Library Science, Sherry offers inspiring and energizing staff development workshops which demonstrate storytelling as a tool that empowers educators. Several National awards have recognized Sherry's dedication to children and family literacy. She is the co-author of some commendable teaching resources such as The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development, and The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum.

JEEVA RAGHUNATH (INDIA)

While Jeeva specialises in training small children, she also trains adults in such disciplines as storytelling, role-play, creative writing and communication. Jeeva, who has conducted various storytelling and language workshops for trainee teachers at the National Institute of Education (Singapore), has also given storytelling performances on Vasantham Central, Singapore. Growing ever in stature as a resourceful storyteller, she has represented India at several international conferences.

LESLIE RULE (US)

Leslie is the Project Supervisor for the Digital Storytelling Initiative at KQED, working in the fields of education, community outreach and adult learning. Leslie has developed a nationally recognised teacher training programme for the American Film Institute, taught multimedia storytelling to adults at the College of San Mateo, and served as an educational technologist in middle and high school. Leslie has addressed numerous conferences, including MacWorld, NECC, CAIS, AMLA SXSW Interactive Festival.

HELEN SIMONDSON (AUSTRALIA)

As Manager of Events at the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI), Helen has been responsible for initiating and developing the award-winning digital storytelling programme which engages the community in meaningful first person narratives. Since the programme’s inception, she has worked with hundreds of people throughout Victoria and Australia, edifying their personal stories; and also with individuals & communities to develop storytelling and technical skills to produce their autobiographical audio-visual stories.

ROSEMARIE SOMAIAH (SINGAPORE)

Rosemarie of Asian Storytelling Network has performed in Scotland, Hong Kong, Hungary and India. Working with all ages, she enjoys cross-cultural and collaborative work. Her books include a comic for the Singapore History Museum (2002), ‘Gateway to Singapore Culture’ (2004), ‘Colours of Harmony’ (2005), ‘Colours of Love’ (2006) and ‘Indian Children’s Favourite Stories’ (2006). Recent successes include performing at the ‘Children’s Mozart Festival’ (2007) and the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival (2008).

SUSIE AND PHIL SPLITTER (AUSTRALIA)

Susie is a music and movement educator, and past president of the Victorian Orff Schulwerk Association Phil is an award winning composer as well as a talented musician and entertainer.
Susie and Phil have spent more than 15 years developing the popular 'Welcome to Music' series of CD's and books, musicals and choral range for all ages. They have conducted professional development workshops in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Spain, as well as at the Orff Institute in Austria.

TAN BOON HUI (SINGAPORE)

Boon Hui is Deputy Director for Programmes at the National Museum of Singapore. His portfolio includes the development of large scale festivals and events, institutional relations and international projects for the Museum. His work has focused on creating new possibilities for contemporary artists to engage with historical and social issues within the context of a history museum. He has a specific interest in the contemporary re-making of traditions among young artists.

JOANNE TEOH KHENG YAU (SINGAPORE)

A broadcast veteran with a special interest in multimedia journalism, Joanne has spoken around the world on shaping stories on air, online and for print. She has spent much of her career creating media and studying how they integrate on multiple platforms, having authored articles and documentaries on the subject. In her creative and editorial roles at leading media organizations, Joanne is credited for many acclaimed TV productions on Asia, media culture, technology, business and health.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR THEMIN SUWARDY (SINGAPORE)

Themin is the Assoc. Dean and MPA Programme Director at School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University. Themin is also the faculty champion of a number of SMU IT projects, notably “Virtual Canvas” (MIS Asia’s 2006 Best IT Enabler in Education) and “SMU e-Communities”. He has created many e-learning objects in Accounting and was awarded the SMU Most Innovative Teacher award in 2006 and the 2004 Hewlett-Packard Mobile Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative.

VERENA TAY (SINGAPORE)

An Associate Artist with The Substation (Singapore’s first multidisciplinary arts centre) since 2002, Verena has spent more than two decades acting, directing and writing for English-language theatre. From Aug to Nov 2007, Verena was an Honorary Fellow with the renowned International Writing Program (University of Iowa, USA), gaining much insight on the craft of writing from her peers around the world; in the US, she told tales from Southeast Asia, fascinating audiences in New York state and New Orleans.

ETH-NOH-TEC (US)

Eth-Noh-Tec is an interdisciplinary theatre – a precision choreography and lyrical word-weaving ensemble that is graceful, playful and poetic. Weaving layers of ancient Asian mythologies, folktales and urban legends upon the sensibilities of the Asian Diaspora, Eth-Noh-Tec has created what is termed kinetic theatre, a new and exciting blend of storytelling. Even as Eth-Noh-Tec combines their skills, it reveals the chemistry Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang bring to the performances.

NURY VITTACHI (HONG KONG)

Nury, Hong Kong’s bestselling English language novelist, is also a well-known columnist. One of his best works is the comedy-crime novel series, The Feng Shui Detective, which has been translated into French, German, Portguese, Italian, Indonesian and other languages. Noted for playing a key role in founding the Asia Literary Review, Hong Kong International Literary Festival, Man Asia Literary Prize, Nury’s avowed mission is to create a new generation of Asia-based authors and screenwriters.

SHEILA WEE (SINGAPORE)

Sheila Wee, the co-founder of Asian Storytelling Network, is one of the pioneers in the revival of the art of oral storytelling in Singapore. She is British, but, having lived in Singapore for 25 years, she also feels very Singaporean. In addition to working in schools, museums, theatres and for various government ministries in Singapore, Sheila has been responsible for training many local storytellers. She has also performed internationally at various storytelling festivals.

JEREMY WILLIAMS (SINGAPORE)

Professor Jeremy Williams is Chief Academic Officer at Knowledge Universe Education. An award-winning professor with 20 years of experience in the higher education sector, Jeremy has held the positions of Dean of Corporate Programmes and Director of Research at U21Global, and Teaching Fellow and MBA Director at Queensland University of Technology, Australia. A pioneer and specialist in the field of online education, digital storytelling has become a firm feature of his MBA classes.