May 1, 2025
The Power of Storytelling is a special collaboration episode
between
Minorities in Publishing
and the
Restorative Works! Podcast.
Through the power of storytelling, we aim to engage powerful
leaders and activists in conversations around keeping hope in dire
times; giving back power to communities; radical empathy; arts as
means to tell real life stories, and the effects of genuine
engagement in community resilience.
Listen to critical storytellers and educators including Jennifer
Coreas, Reginald Dwayne Betts, and Tiffany Yu, who have been
foundational in bringing awareness to societal issues and community
movements through storytelling and literacy. Tune in to hear these
influential voices speak on the power of transforming stories into
actionable change in the worlds of criminal justice, disability
awareness, and publishing.
Participant Bios
Jennifer Baker is an author, editor, writing
instructor, and creator of the Minorities in Publishing podcast.
She’s been a recipient of NYSCA/NYFA and Queens Council on the Arts
grants, a 2024 Axinn Writing Award, and was named the
Publishers Weekly
Star Watch SuperStar in 2019. She edited the
short story anthology Everyday People: The Color of Life
(2018) and is the author of Forgive Me Not (2023) a 2023
Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, an NYPL 2023 Best Book for
Teens, and 2023 Best of the Best by the BCALA.
Claire de Mézerville López is a licensed psychologist from UCR
(Universidad de Costa Rica). She holds a Master in Education with
an emphasis on cognitive development from ITESM (Instituto
Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México). She also
has a Master of Science in Restorative Practices from the IIRP
Graduate School. She is also an associate professor at Universidad
de Costa Rica, and has experience as a therapist, researcher, and
consultant. Claire has published papers on adolescence, restorative
practices, resilience and educational psychology. Claire has worked
with the IIRP since 2011. Currently, among other duties, serves as
a liaison to Spanish-speaking communities and organizations in
Latin America and elsewhere
Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet and lawyer. A 2021 MacArthur
Fellow, he is the Executive Director of
Freedom Reads, a not-for-profit organization that
is radically transforming the access to literature in prisons
through the installation of Freedom Libraries in prisons across
this country. Betts has authored several books including the poetry
collections Bastards of the Reagan Era and
Felon.
Jennifer Coreas is the coordinator and cofounder of the program Literacy for Reconciliation for ConTextos in El Salvador and Chicago. Her work extends from curriculum development and teaching to advocacy, training, and facilitation of dialogue. She has led the work and the vision for ConTextos’s work in prisons and communities, accompanied authors in their journeys of self-discovery, and brought their stories to hundreds of teachers, psychologists, and social workers in professional development spaces. She has been recognized with numerous fellowships and scholarships including the Rocky Gooch Memorial Scholarship and the Esperanza Fellowship. She holds degrees from El Salvador in English as a second language and applied linguistics, and she received a master’s degree in English from Middlebury College in 2018.
Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise to elevate disability pride, the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, and the author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World. Her TED Talk, How to Help Employees with Disabilities Thrive, has over one million views. She serves on the NIH National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research and was a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father.