It's a huge responsibility to tell someone's story. We'll talk with Chloe Louvouezo (Life, I Swear: Intimate Stories from Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust) and Celia Wexler (Catholic Women Confront Their Church: Stories of Hurt and Hope) about building trust, knowing what part of the story to tell, and the writing and editing process.

Chloe Dulce Louvouezo is a Congolese-American writer, mother, and advocate for women whose work is driven by discourse on identity and healing. As a storyteller, she supports creativity and belonging of underrepresented women and seeks to deepen understanding about and within communities. Chloe is the executive producer and host of the "Life, I Swear" podcast and author ofLife, I Swear: Intimate Stories from Black Women on Identity, Healing and Self-Trust (HarperCollins Publishers, November 2, 2021), through which she explores nuances and insights around identity, mental wellness, and healing, told through the lens of women from the Black diaspora.

Rooted in her global citizenship, having lived around the world and raised in Niger, West Africa, Chloe's fifteen-year career in communications has advanced diverse and inclusive storytelling at domestic and global organizations addressing education, poverty, and mental health. She currently serves as Senior Communications Officer at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Chloe also sits on DC Mayor Bowser’s Commission for Women, through which she supports citywide initiatives championing health and human services and public policy safety for women. She is also a founding board member of HURU, which creates sacred spaces for rest experiences that foster emotional wellbeing and wholeness.

Celia Viggo Wexler is an award-winning journalist and nonfiction author. Wexler’s first book, Out of the News: Former Journalists Discuss a Profession in Crisis(McFarland) won a national award for excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists. Her second book, Catholic Women Confront Their Church: Stories of Hurt and Hope, was published in September 2016 by Rowman & Littlefield, and received positive reviews, including a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Her book also led to her participation in an international conference in Rome in 2018, sponsored by the group, Catholic Women Speak, where she spoke on the sex abuse crisis in the American church.

Her essay, “Raising Valerie,” is included in Unruly Catholic Feminists published this  year by the State University of New York Press.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, Columbia Journalism Review, and The Nation. She is a regular contributor to NBC News’ online opinion site, THINK.

Wexler’s career also has included service as a nonprofit advocate for the good government group, Common Cause, and for the Union of Concerned Scientists. In that capacity, she has discussed trade reform in Sweden, participated in a panel on transparency in Tunis, and trained whistleblowers in Kiev.

Telling True Tales: Responsible Storytelling