LEAP Connect
LEAP Connect aims to bring both needed and inspirational leadership dialogues to the API community. Through a series of accessible monthly leadership conversations, trainings, networking opportunities and more, participants will build the tools and resources needed to inspire change within their personal and professional communities.
Upcoming Event
Healing in Community: Storytelling Workshop & Circle with Dr. Ada Cheng
Do you want to tell stories to connect with people emotionally and build trust, intimacy, and solidarity across differences? Do you want to learn the fundamental principles of storytelling and utilize personal stories to bring communities together?
There are two parts to this workshop/circle. During the first 30 minutes, Ada Cheng will discuss central tenets of this art form, including emotion, vulnerability, intimacy, and trust with the audience. She will demonstrate how to tell stories critical to our lived experiences. Participants will learn general tips on how to craft and tell stories.
During the second half of the session, participants will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned in the session and practice sharing stories. This “circle” portion, like an open mic, allows participants to co-create brave spaces and to share vulnerable and difficult stories. This process also allows participants to witness one another and to experience how intimate communities can be built through the dynamic process of sharing and witnessing.
LEAP Connect leadership workshops are free, accessible to the public, and are intended to bring a safe space to the API community. Participants can walk away from the sessions with the tools and resources necessary to increase their leadership skills and inspire change.
About Dr. Ada Cheng
An educator-turned artist, storyteller, and creator, Ada Cheng has utilized storytelling to illustrate structural inequities, raise critical awareness, and build intimate communities. Committed to amplifying and uplifting marginalized voices, she has created numerous storytelling platforms for BIPOC and LGBTQIA community members to tell difficult and vulnerable stories. Ada Cheng has been a speaker for Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau since 2019. She is the 2023-24 Lund-Gill Endowed Chair at Dominican University. Her interests encompass academia, storytelling/performance, and advocacy.
Thank you to our LEAP Connect sponsors
