The COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt to face-to-face interactions around the world. Yet it has also opened doors for countless opportunities to expand cross-cultural exchanges and build global connections through digital and virtual means. These Digital Stories serve to further the initiatives of the Education Programs through a new online platform.

GIRLS SHARE DIGITAL STORIES: A digital empowerment program that nurtures girls and young women from under-represented rural communities with digital literacy and storytelling skills to express themselves and tell inspiring stories about their communities to promote peace.

HANNAH’S DANCE DIGITAL STORYTELLING WORKSHOP is an enriching opportunity for participants to learn about the story of Hannah’s Dance in an interactive and creative process. The workshop focuses on Berlin’s Jüdischer Kulturbund’s choreographer and dancer, Hannah Kroner, and her heroic efforts to save dancers from the Nazis labor camps. 

KULTUR STORIES: A cultural exchange program virtually connecting our future leaders — young people around the globe — to build awareness of human rights through creative expression.

JUBA DIGITAL STORYTELLING FOR PEACE AND UNITY (and why it’s important to tell the truth): A virtual program focused on providing young scholars in South Sudan an open space to create their original digital stories in partnership with the Promised Land Secondary School.

WHAT DOES COMMUNITY MEAN TO YOU? A three-day digital storytelling workshop designed for undergraduate students aged 18 to 25 from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt, and Pakistan. Sponsored by The Study for the United States Institutes (SUSIs) for Student Leaders and funded by the US Department of State.

WHO AM I?: Leif Persson and Cindy Oxberry, initiated a video project titled Who Am I from the work that emerged from Kid Stories. They invited women living around the world to video record themselves reciting Maybe Not. These recordings were assembled to make Who Am I.

Who Am I illuminates the strong, powerful force that changes the world every day – WOMEN.

ZANSPRUIT NEEDS CLEAN WATER: A storytelling project that asked sixth and seventh-grade students at Zanspruit Primary School in Johannesburg, South Africa to create stories to raise awareness and support for a necessary water drainage and clean water system at their school. The students learned about the wetland ecosystem on which their school is located and how their strong voices can affect social change through creative expression.