Charles "Chuck" Black describes himself as a storyteller, organizer, educator, proud Philadelphian, and person who stutters — and he worked nearly every one of those into his story about a workplace bully who badly underestimated him. Chuck won the Judges' Award at MISSION Story Slam 14: No Judgment for the Mazzoni Center. Chuck joined Michael Schweisheimer to talk about turning personal storytelling into advocacy, co-founding Philly Queer Storytelling, and his national work registering student voters.

• Chuck's MSS Story (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHMDZzKyj68&t=3s
• Chuck on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cblackdc/
• Philly Queer Storytellers (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/phillyqueerstorytellers/
• Campus Vote Project (Chuck's employer): https://campusvoteproject.org/
• Mazzoni Center (Chuck's charity of choice): https://www.mazzonicenter.org/
  
  

Carey Searles spent 36 years with SEPTA's Regional Rail — working his way up from conductor to the train yard, including the day he misplaced an entire engine in three feet of snow. His story of that frantic afternoon won the Energy Co-op Crowd Favorite Prize at Mission Story Slam 14: No Judgment. Carey joined Michael Schweisheimer to relive the chase, talk retirement, transit systems on both sides of the Atlantic, and why he still won't touch engine 922.

Kenny Chiu is a teacher who shared a story about his many families at MISSION Story Slam 11: It’s A Family Affair. Michelle Palmer is Executive Director of Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia, an academic accelerator that supports highly-motivated and traditionally underserved middle school students and also provides pre-professional teacher training. Kenny is one of Breakthrough’s many success stories.