Charlotte Blake Alston, Master Storyteller, narrator and librettist performs in venues throughout North America and abroad. Venues have included the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, the Kimmel Center, the Women of the World Festival in Cape Town and a refugee camp in northern Senegal. Her solo performances are often enhanced with traditional instruments such as djembe, mbira, shekere or the 21-stringed kora. She began studying the kora with the Senegslese griot (jali), the late Djimo Kouyate. She recently resumed her studies with Malian Virtuoso Yacouba Sissoko. In 2005, she was the sole American selected to perform on a main stage at the STIMMEN: Voices Festival in Basel, Switzerland and the Cape Clear Island Festival in Ireland. In 2018, she represented the US at the Boca do Ceu International Storytelling Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil and in 2019 was featured at the International Storytelling Festival Austria.

Willa Brigham is the two time Emmy Award winning host of the television show, “Smart Start Kids”, an Inspirational Speaker, Storyteller, writer and performing artist.  She is a native of Tuskegee, Alabama, a graduate of Alabama State University and Indiana University. Willa has entertained and delighted audiences across the US and to standing ovations on cruise lines in the Caribbean. Willa’s service and professional organization affiliations include the National Speakers Association; Toastmasters, the North Carolina Storytelling Guild, the North Carolina Association of Black Storytellers, and the African American Quilt Circle. Willa is the recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston Award, the North Carolina Federation of Women’s “Woman of Distinction” and the Carolina Health and Humor Association Entertainer of the Year.  She has six CD’s to her credit and the author of Golden Years-a collection of stories and poems dedicated to senior citizens and The Pizza Store.

 Valerie Tutson graduated Brown University with a self-designed major, Storytelling as a Communication’s Art, and a Masters in Theatre. She holds an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Rhode Island College. Since 1991 she has traveled the country and world teaching and telling stories. Her repertoire includes folktales, songs, personal and historical stories with an emphasis on black traditions. Valerie is a founding member and Director of the Rhode Island Black Storytellers, and FUNDA FEST: A Celebration of Black Storytelling. Valerie has received numerous awards for her work using storytelling to foster community. She is a 2018/19 Intercultural Leadership Institute Fellow. Valerie has also served as Co-Director of the 21^st “In the Tradition…” Annual National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference in 2003.

Nothando Zulu is a Master storyteller who has been sharing stories with audiences since 1976.  She shares stories that entertain, educate, motivate and inspire.  She has performed in many venues as she draws from an extensive resource of colorful, often funny characters whose antics and follies leave audiences pondering their own life’s lessons. She is the President and Director of Black Storytellers Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining the oral tradition as practiced by African people in the diaspora. She and her husband, Vuzi, with the help of their Board of Directors has produced a three-day storytelling festival, “Signifyin’ & Testifyin’” since 1991. In 2019,  “Signifyin’ & Testifyin’” will celebrate their 28th year of storytelling celebration in the Minneapolis area. Nothando is very committed to community. She states “I don’t separate the artist from the community, everything is circular and apart of”. Nothando is also a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grand mother, community and political activist who believes in the power of stories.

 Donna Willingham is known for sharing stories that are relatable, emotional, and uplifting. She delivers stories as if she were just “having a conversation” with an audience. Through a blend of vocal intonation, facial expression, and body movement, Miss Donna utilizes her ability to realistically portray characters, thus bringing unforgettable life to stories. Miss Donna strives to leave listeners entertained and inspired. And if you attended the 2015 “In the Tradition…” Annual National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference, you were a witness to her exceptional gifts. Known for sharing stories that are relatable, emotional, and uplifting, Donna Willingham delivers stories as if she were just “having a conversation” with an audience. Through a blend of vocal intonation, facial expression, and body movement, Miss Donna utilizes her ability to realistically portray characters, thus bringing unforgettable life to stories. Miss Donna strives to leave listeners entertained and inspired.

Djeliba Baba the Storyteller is a “ubiquitous bard plagued by an implacable passion for parables, proverbs, and pleasing palaver”. He has been a touring, professional speaker since 1994 and is a U.S. born practitioner of the ancient West African storytelling craft known as Jaliyaa. He has received numerous awards over the years for his work as a folklorist, traditional harpist, storyteller, community activist, and volunteer. Baba has presented in thousands of schools and other institutions all across the world, including Romania, Poland, the Canary Islands, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Brazil. In the latter part of 2019, he will take is stories to Vietnam and Qatar. He is also a recipient of a California State Assembly Certificate of Recognition for his creative uses of storytelling and his commitment to community in working with troubled teens. The City of Long Beach California recognized him as their municipality’s Artist of the Year, an award presented to him by the Mayor. He has also earned additional commendations from both the U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress. He has studied with the jalolu in the Casamance region of Senegal and also in Guinea and Mali. He is the author of Road of Ash and Dust: Awakening of a Soul in Africa.