Our Team

Tae Chong brings 20 years of experience in economic and workforce development, business counseling, and education for refugees, immigrants, and other communities of color in Maine. As an advocate for economic integration, he has authored articles for Maine Biz, Maine Magazine, CEI, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Tae has presented as a key speaker for the Maine Development Foundation, MaineLive, and TEDxDirigo. He especially loves storytelling and has performed on Stories from the Stage and Soundbites. The ICA featured his story In their exhibit on migration in 2019. Tae is the first Asian American elected to the Portland School Committee and the first Asian American elected to the Portland City Council, where he currently serves.

Sophia Garcia is a political science student, restorative justice practitioner, budding researcher, and storyteller. Since 2018, Sophia has been involved in the expansion of education through a restorative lens. She has worked at Harvard University’s Phillip Brooks House Association, Commonwealth Corporation, and within Revere’s public school system. Her goal is to empower students to find community, trust, and purpose within one another. She began her storytelling career at Bunker Hill Community College, where she crafted and performed her first story for fellow students. This led her to subsequent performances in Suitcase Stories, and BHCC’s Leadership Conference and Center for Equity and Cultural Wealth 2023 Institute.

A Colombian native, Lorena Hernández Leonard is a storyteller, writer, and filmmaker whose award-winning animated short film, Demi’s Panic, was an Oscar contender. Lorena is a Latinx culture expert with 20 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. She’s creator of Gritty Girl, a project that highlights immigrant stories and galvanizes BIPOC women to build resilience and grit. She has appeared on Stories From the Stage and is a Pauline Scheer Fellow at GrubStreet where she is currently working on a memoir about her experiences growing up during the Colombian drug war and migrating to the United States.

Chris Ko is the Research, Monitoring, & Evaluation Specialist at the International Institute of New England (IINE), a nonprofit that serves New Americans in Greater Boston, Lowell, and Southern New Hampshire. He has previously held research positions at Boston College and Harvard. Chris discovered storytelling through Suitcase Stories, a program Cheryl Hamilton launched at IINE that features stories of refugee and immigrant life. His story on belonging appeared on Stories from the Stage.

U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo is a Zimbabwean-American poet, author, performance artist, storyteller, and educator with an international reach and a transnational lens. For more than two decades, she has taught writing and wellness through the arts across a range of settings including schools, community centers, colleges, hospitals, libraries, and shelters. U-Meleni is the 2021 recipient of the BIPOC Arts Leaders Ripple Grant by the Cultural Equity Learning Community and a graduate of the DEI Workplace Certificate program from the University of South Florida Muma School Of Business. Two of her stories about identity and race have been featured on Stories from the Stage. She is a board member for Mass Poetry and Write on the DOT, as well as a member of the New England Poetry Club and National Writers Union.

Andrew Shelffo is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in western Massachusetts. He holds a Ph.D. in contemporary American literature and has been teaching literature and writing in both secondary and higher education for over 30 years. For the past 15 years, he’s been deeply involved in exploring how technology can enhance education. He has told stories on the World Channel’s Stories from the Stage, USA Today’s Storytellers Project, and New England Public Media’s Valley Voices Grand Slam, as well as numerous virtual storytelling events, including ones in Philadelphia, Toronto, and Chicago. He also produces a regular storytelling open mic in his hometown.

Sufian Zhemukhov is an award-winning author and performer. He received the 2020 J.J. Reneaux Emerging Artist Award from the National Storytelling Network that honors storytellers of major and unique performing talent. Sufian’s solo show “Flirting Like an American” has been featured at festivals in New York City, Washington, DC, and Rochester, NY. Sufian’s stories are based on his personal experience as a first-generation immigrant and a university professor, which might be funnier than you’d expect. Sufian teaches at George Washington University. His recent academic book won the 2019 Best Book Award in International Affairs