Susan O'Halloran

Growing Up Japanese American

Susan — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:04:29 +0000

Storyteller, Anne Shimojima, describes feeling invisible growing up Japanese American. Why should any child, or adult, get the message they don’t count or even exist? Let’s all work to make our events, our media, our lives as inclusive as possible.

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Breakthrough Compassion Burnout!

Susan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:23:59 +0000

How do you get the message out that your organization is doing all sorts of good things? A compelling story can break through information overload. You’ve got to have a plan to break through people’s compassion burnout. It won’t just happen because your cause is worthy. Take the time to find and work on your organization’s Who We Are and Why We’re Here Stories.

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Break through compassion fatigue!

Susan — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:20:09 +0000

Your cause is important! But let’s face it, people have compassion fatigue. With the information overload we all experience, you’ve got to be creative in how you let people know about your organization’s good work. A story well told can be the answer to gaining the attention your organization deserves!

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Tell your organization’s STORY

Susan — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:07:46 +0000

I had the pleasure of teaching STORY POWER at the Community Media Workshop’s “Making Media Connections” Day. Whether you’re a business or non-profit, take the time to create your organization’s story.

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Go hear stories this summer!

Susan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:02:54 +0000

There are Storytelling Festivals all over the United States this summer – go have a great time and remember how much you enjoy LIVE entertainment!

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Young people want to be involved!

Susan — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:58:36 +0000

I had the chance to work with wonderful young people this summer in the Chicago Peacebuilder Program. Whenever people say “young people don’t care anymore” I wonder what young people are they talking about? Given half a chance young people are ready to be active citizens and work for justice and opportunity for all.

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Summer story festivals

Susan — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:13:31 +0000

Have you had your fix of storytelling yet this summer? Go to: www.storytelling.org for a schedule of events in Illinois. Go to: storytellingfestival.net for news on the National Storytelling Festival and residencies in Jonesborough, TN and go to www.festivals.com and put in the keyword “Storytelling” for more ideas.

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Seminar enlarges ideas on diversity

Susan — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:41:29 +0000

At a recent O’Halloran Diversity Productions/Bea Young Associates seminar, Kellie Henegar reminds us that diversity is larger than race and gender. She describes the “culture shock” of moving from military to civilian life.

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Susan — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:35:04 +0000

Last Friday I had the pleasure of presenting at Decatur’s Richland Community College’s 10^th annual Walking the Walk of Diversity Conference. The keynote was given by Dr. Steve Perry, a passionate educator and principal. He talked about student decline in readiness for college. He asked a simple but profound question, “If it’s not the system’s fault, whose is it? Have kids been born dumber?”

He talked about a present day school system that was designed for our early 1900s agricultural society. At Dr. Perry’s magnet school, Capital Prep, in Hartford, Connecticut, the previously lowest performing district in the state, 100% of the middle/high school students now go on to college.

There is simply no access to this society – period – without access to quality education.

Thank you, Richland, for inviting me. I enjoyed the mix of academic, business, city and community participants.

Susan — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:17:51 +0000

After my last post, a few junior high students I work with asked, “Great you mentioned pre-schoolers, Sue, but what about us in junior high?” And, then, a couple of my corporate clients commented, “Yes, kids can put us to shame. But, surely, business people are doing good things as well.”

Well of course! Here are a few examples:

At one junior high school, students petitioned their school to build accessible ramps and to offer interpreters for hearing-impaired classmates. In California, high school students protested what they saw as an anti-immigrant bill. In the past, I worked with a group of high school students who have decided to hold a Senior Prom where they invited Seniors i.e. Senior citizens and held an intergenerational dance.

And, yes, in businesses where I’ve had the privilege of consulting, I’ve seen employees work hard to change hiring, promoting and distribution policies from an Us vs. Them environment to a “We’re all in this together” which is reality, not just a Public Relations slogan. And guess what? It works!

Lastly, I was inspired by this story:

In a small town in Michigan, upon hearing that a hate group was going to sponsor a festival to celebrate the superiority of the white race, students joined with adult community leaders to plan their own counter Unity Fest. The Unity Fest was so successful and the planning for the event induced so many citizens to get involved that the hate group never got their festival off the ground.

So there! American history is filled with examples of people of all ages, colors, gender, income groups and so on who took a stand against injustice and ignorance and made a difference.

This article may be reprinted when this full byline is used: Susan O’Halloran is a story artist, workshop presenter, television personality and keynote speaker whose work explores the complex issues of social justice. She is an author of four books plus diversity curriculums, CDs and films. The Chicago Reader says O’Halloran “has mastered the Irish art of telling stories that are funny and heart-wrenching at the same time.” For a copy of a free teleseminar with Susan, go to www.susanohalloran.com