Caitie is the Founder/Noter-in-Chief of The Lightening Notes, a short daily post to help us move the world forward. Prior to The Lightening Notes, Caitie was a senior foreign policy advisor in Congress. She co-founded a school in India with a community of lower cast musicians and raised pigs in Italy. She is a graduate of Brown University and is a member of the Brown Women’s Leadership Council. She attended the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies where she co-founded the Salt Alumni Board. She is on the board at the Treehouse Institute, a member of the Portland Parks Commission, and a Truma ..read more

Phuc Tran is both a Classicist and a tattooer. He has taught Latin, Greek, German, and Sanskrit at independent schools in New York and Maine and was an instructor at Brooklyn College's Summer Latin Institute. His 2012 TEDx Talk on grammar and identity was featured on NPR’s TED Radio Hour and mentioned in News Week. As a tattooer, Tran owns and operates Tsunami Tattoo in Portland. He has been recognized in several national tattoo publications, he has been quoted in the Christian Science Monitor and Time Magazine. His memoir, Sigh, Gone, was released this year on Flatiron Books ..read more

Sandi Marx is a retired talent agent who spends most of her nights storytelling and hosting shows all over the country. She is a seven-time Moth StorySLAM champion. She performed her one-woman show “You'll Be Sorry” at The Tank in Brooklyn, NY. She’s been featured at the Boston Comedy Festival, Cinderblock, and most recently at the “She Makes Me Laugh” festival. This past year, Sandi was featured on nationally televised PBS “Stories For The Stage” and “Women Of Letters” at City Winery and can be heard on several podcasts including RISK!, Hot Mic with Dan Savage, Story Collider, and countless o ..read more

Susanne’s work as a comedic storyteller has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, The Moth, HBO’s Inspiration Room, WGBH Stories from the Stage and Massmouth Suitcase Stories. Sue is a producer for The Moth and Founder of “Say It Forward Productions”, an organization dedicated to helping non-profits, groups, and individuals to use the power of their stories for good. In her other life, she is a Graduate Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Northern Vermont University, and is the mother of two amazing young men, who would probably prefer that she stop talking about them when she is ..read more

Talaya Moore received her BS in Communications and Event Planning from SUNY Oneonta in 2017. She is a stage manager for a performing arts program, a plus-size model, and brand ambassador for numerous online shops. She is also currently enrolled in improv classes at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade in New York. Talaya is a YouTube Personality creating content ranging from hair tutorials, storytimes, vlogs and more. Her future goal is to pursue a career in acting, music, and producing ..read more

Skylar Bayer is a marine biologist, storyteller who lives in Maine. She completed her Ph.D. in the secret sex lives of scallops, a subject that landed her on The Colbert Report in 2013. She is a producer for the science-storytelling non-profit, The Story Collider, and is active in the science communication and engagement world. She lives with her long-distance and cold-eater swimming husband, Thom, her two dogs, and grumpy cat ..read more

Once described as a “storytelling guru” by the Wall Street Journal, Kate Tellers is a writer, storyteller, and host on staff at The Moth. Her story, “But Also Bring Cheese”, is featured in The Moth’s All These Wonders: True Stories about Facing the Unknown (Crown Archetype), in bookstores now. She is the co-host of I’m Still Here, a podcast about making art after kids. She lives in Brooklyn with her loud family and dog ..read more

Samaa Abdurraqib was raised in the Land of Buckeyes (Ohio), spent 8 years in the Land of Dairy (Wisconsin), and moved to the Land of Lobsters in August 2010. She spent three years teaching Gender & Women’s Studies at Bowdoin College and transitioned into the non-profit world in 2013 and has been on that grind ever since. Samaa currently works at the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. She enjoys birding, hiking and being outdoors, facilitating reading groups for the Maine Humanities Council, and coaching leaders of color. Samaa loves Black and Brown and Queer and Trans people. She al ..read more

A native of Auburn, ME, Cheryl Hamilton has devoted her career to advancing refugee protection, immigrant integration, and storytelling. Last year, Cheryl turned her attention and career full time to storytelling and has been having a great time. She directs Massmouth, a Boston-based non-profit that promotes the timeless art of storytelling. In her role, Cheryl is responsible for curating the national television show, “Stories from the Stage”, in partnership with WGBH and The World Channel. She is also the creator and director of the popular “Suitcase Stories” series, a program that honors ref ..read more

Sofija Stefanovic is a Serbian-Australian writer and storyteller based in Manhattan. Her memoir, Miss Ex-Yugoslavia, is a sometimes funny, sometimes dark story about being an immigrant kid during the Yugoslavian Wars. She hosts This Alien Nation, a monthly celebration of immigration at Joe’s Pub in New York. She’s a regular storyteller with The Moth, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times among others ..read more