Jun 2022 – Dec 2025 · 3 yrs 6 mos · Plymouth, England, United Kingdom · On-site

• Tales to Live By is a collaboration between Crazy Beautiful World CIC and Care Nest Plymouth CIC. It is made up of three creative practitioners who have come together to explore how storytelling, art and togetherness can grow healthy, supportive communities, where we can all thrive.
• https://www.talestoliveby.com/

Apr 2021 – Jan 2026 · 4 yrs 9 mos · United Kingdom

• Crazy Beautiful World connects teens and adults to explore – with open hearts and minds – the challenges of growing up in the 21st Century.
• Our mission
• To offer spaces where young people’s voices can be heard and taken seriously, and offer opportunities for them to influence the design and direction of society.
• To offer ways for young people to encounter the work of honest, compassionate and caring adults who are dedicated to building a more beautiful world.
• To create spaces and processes that help us grow the intergenerational wisdom required to address the material and spiritual crises facing humanity

Jun 2020 – Oct 2021 · 1 yr 4 mos

• Using a whole-child, whole-system approach to learning, ThoughtBox helps schools nurture healthy relationships to support the wellbeing of people and planet.
• At the heart of ThoughtBox is the knowledge that education needs to nurture the whole child. When young people are given the space to think deeply about - and connect to - the things that really matter, they develop a broader sense of knowledge, compassion, values, confidence and resilience, giving them the opportunities to flourish.

Mar 2018 – Sep 2018 · 6 mos · Totnes

• Researching alternative pathways for the Totnes Pound, focusing on the Toreke project in Ghent.

Aug 2016 – Apr 2017 · 8 mos

• "According to research conducted by Play England, 71% of adults say they played out in the street every day when they were children. For today’s children that figure is only 21%."
• Totnes Street Games Festival was an invitation to take back our streets with play and community.

Dec 2015 – Sep 2021 · 5 yrs 9 mos

• Lead facilitator for this CIC connecting people of different ethnic groups through nature-based community events using stories, play and art. Supported over 200 people from 40 ethnic backgrounds through 52 cross-cultural events—creating spaces where immigrant families felt genuinely seen and celebrated.

Jan 2015 – Oct 2024 · 9 yrs 9 mos · Devon, UK

• "In this interview, we hear from Inez Aponte, the founder of Growing Good Lives, an organization dedicated to bringing about a socially and environmentally just economic system by putting values, needs, and wellbeing at the heart of economic development work. Inez is a storyteller, facilitator and community organizer who uses the Human Scale Development Approach in her workshops and seminars. We talked about how she came to do this work, why we need a different way of talking about the economy, and the role of story and language in encouraging lasting behavior change."

Oct 2014 – May 2015 · 7 mos

• Devon’s first Land Conference, which brought together 130 people to explore the importance of our relationship with the land to all aspects of life.
• “For years I thought I was alone with my fears and frustrations. I have so many ideas of how we can make things better but I can’t do them on my own. Today I realised lots of people feel the same as I do and I am hopeful that we can make something happen together.”

Apr 2013 – Mar 2015 · 1 yr 11 mos · Devon

• Inspiring active citizenship for a new economic and social paradigm

Jun 2010 – May 2018 · 7 yrs 11 mos · Totnes, England, United Kingdom

• We challenge, connect, inform and inspire people through a mixture of activities so they positively engage with their future in a changing world.

Jun 2009 – Jan 2019 · 9 yrs 7 mos

Jul 1997 – Present · 28 yrs 8 mos

• For over 25 years, I've been weaving stories that connect people across cultures, generations, and worldviews.
• My practice spans three core areas:
• Performance: Traditional tales from around the world, including my show Un|Earthed exploring identity through Surinamese folklore and family history. Performed at The Cygnet Theatre, Barbican Theatre Plymouth, Amsterdam Storytelling Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, WOMAD, and dozens of other venues across Europe and the US.
• Teaching & Coaching: Storytelling coaching for changemakers and leaders; workshops in authentic voice, improvisation, and creative resilience. Drawing on practices from Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal, and Keith Johnstone, I help people access their innate creativity in service of common aims.
• Gathering & Facilitation: Designing spaces for authentic connection across differences. My facilitation work is influenced by systems thinking and participatory practices, creating the conditions where people connect joyfully around common purpose and discover their collective capacity for transformation.
• Partners include: WWF, the Soil Association, Natural England, Schumacher College, The Transition Network, KPMG, Bristol City Council, The British Council, and community changemakers across Europe.