The Facing Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that creates a more understanding and empathetic world through stories that inspire action. We provide tools, a platform, and inspiration for individuals and communities to share their stories, connect across difference, and begin crucial conversations through their own narratives.
Vision: to create a more understanding and empathetic world.
What We Do
Writers and storytellers collaborate on first person narratives that may be used in books, performances, archived in The Facing Project collection at Ball State University, and on The Facing Project Radio Show on NPR.
The Facing Project has engaged more than 7,500 volunteer writers, actors, and storytellers who’ve told more than 1,500 stories that have been used in grassroots movements, in schools, and in government to inform and inspire action.
Get started on a Facing Project in your community.
The Faces Behind The Facing Project
Our Board
Officers —
Chair: Jay Moorman, vice president of client services at Ontario Systems
Vice Chair: Stephanie Fisher, content manager at MoJo Media Labs
Treasurer: James Mitchell, associate director of The Career Center at Ball State University
Secretary: Lori Kniffin, assistant director of The Institute for Community and Economic Engagement at University of North Carolina–Greensboro
Members —
Ro Selvey, junior high math teacher at Southside Middle School (K-12 Outreach)
Shantanu Suman, assistant professor of art at Ball State University
Alex Sventeckis, content manager at TechPoint
Garima Verma, assistant manager of digital marketing at Paramount Pictures
How’d all this get started? Read the history of The Facing Project.
Our Co-founders
The Facing Project was co-founded by J.R. Jamison and Kelsey Timmerman because they believe in the power of first-person stories to enact community change. As writers and active citizens, the two have witnessed this firsthand and are passionate about helping other communities tell their stories.
J.R. has spent the past two decades promoting community engagement in higher education. His work has been adopted by more than 40 campuses and communities across the globe, and he has written and won over $7 million of grants to support communities in their efforts. His writing on community engagement has appeared in national journals and books, and he has been featured in The Guardian, The Huffington Post, Harlem World Magazine, and on NPR.
Kelsey has spent the last decade helping people share their stories. He is the New York Times Bestselling author of WHERE AM I WEARING? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes (Wiley, 2008), WHERE AM I EATING? An Adventure through the Global Food Economy (Wiley, 2013), and WHERE AM I GIVING? Where Am I Giving: A Global Adventure Exploring How to Use Your Gifts and Talents to Make a Difference. His writing has appeared in publications such as the Christian Science Monitor, Condé Nast Portfolio, TIME magazine, and has aired on NPR. WEARING and EATING have been adopted as a common reader by over 150 high schools, colleges, and universities.
J.R. and Kelsey host The Facing Project Radio Show on NPR, and both regularly speak at colleges, universities, high schools, and speaker series around the nation and the world. Invite them to yours!
