Foreword Motion

Who is pushing Foreword Motion?

Katie Schneider Gumiran is an educator, facilitator, and multimedia storyteller. She was a teacher and coach in Chicago Public Schools for 14 years, then co-built and directed a multimedia department for a leading national education nonprofit for 8 years.

Katie holds a BFA in Playwriting from The Theatre School at DePaul University and an MA in Teaching from National-Louis University. She was a National Board Certified Teacher, a Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction, and a Fund for Teachers Fellow. Her media has been used for professional learning across the country and featured in Education Week, SXSW, Learning for Justice, The New York Times, and Kappan. She is co-producer of the Belonging podcast, which tells stories of exclusion and belonging in schools. She is also a mom of two kids, and teaches English and Storytelling to adults in Chicago.

Katie works closely with other educators, facilitators, and multimedia creators who will collaborate on projects depending on your needs and budget.

What are some stories of change to capture or cultivate?

→ Campaigns

→ Community initiatives

→ School and workplace shifts in practice

→ Occurences that evoke reckoning and require healing

How do stories create progress?

→ stories fire "mirror neurons", releasing dopamine and oxytocin, and leading the listener to empathetic responses and "post-narrative actions"

→ stories provide a reflection of what is happening now, allowing groups to coalesce around a shared vision, and to sharpen and clarify that vision going forward

→ stories are a form of "street data" we can use for qualitative research and continuous improvement, guiding us to act on forms of progress that don't show up on traditional metrics

Foreword Motion is aware of the active legislation to prevent the study of racism and the LGBTQIA2s+ community in schools, and seeks to work with individuals and organizations who are pushing back against this censorship. Foreword Motion believes that people of all backgrounds have the right to be represented and to share their authentic stories, and that we all must work together to actively protect these rights.

make your story make change

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Puppets: Arts in the Dark Chicago
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