Our Team

Michael Carson

President

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 275
Email: michael@storytellingcenter.net

Michael Carson is the President of the International Storytelling Center. Michael began his post with ISC in April 2024.

Carson’s leadership and development experience has been with organizations across the nonprofit and NGO sectors. He has served as a catalyst for community building and a passionate advocate for critical infrastructure, including health care services, education, and access to clean water in emerging economies. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University, an MBA from Clark Atlanta University, and a certificate in nonprofit management from Stanford University’s Social Innovation Review.

Susan O’Connor

Director of Programs

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 281
Email: susan@storytellingcenter.net

Susan is responsible for the overall direction and artistic programming of the National Storytelling Festival, the Teller-In-Residence Series, as well as ISC’s visitor activities and regional outreach programs.

Susan is a graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Master of Science degree in educational psychology. A former teacher, she began her work with the organization in 1989.

Sandy Reaves

Director of Finance & Operations

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 279
Email: sandy@storytellingcenter.net

As the Director of Finance, Sandy is responsible for ISC’s accounting practices, maintaining financial records, preparing financial management reports and procedures, as well as administering the employee benefits program. As the Director of Operations, Sandy is responsible for the direction and coordination of the organization. She is responsible for the growth and profitability of the organization. This role includes expense control, staff management, facilities oversight, and department supervision.

Sandy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from East Tennessee State University. She worked with Lewis and Associates, a public Accounting firm in Johnson City, Tennessee for three years before joining the ISC staff in February of 2003.

Krystal Hawkins

Program Administrator

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 282
Email: krystal@storytellingcenter.net

Krystal is responsible for coordinating the talent logistics for the National Storytelling Festival, managing the daily operations for the 26-week Teller-In-Residence Series and providing general administrative support of all programs. She joined the ISC staff full-time in July of 2017.

Lesley McDavid

Facility Director

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 226
Email: lesley@storytellingcenter.net

Lesley is responsible for planning, coordinating and directing all Center activities including facility rentals, gift shop stock and staff management for the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall.

Lesley has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management from East Tennessee State University. Lesley joined the ISC staff in July 2020.

Lisa Whaley

Director of Development

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 224
Email: lisa@storytellingcenter.net

Lisa oversees all aspects of Fund Development at the International Storytelling Center. This includes procuring, developing, and managing relationships with donors and sponsors, as well as developing new and innovative ways to seek funding sources, including grants and gifts.

Lisa helps to strengthen and build visibility at local, national and international levels and to all constituents, while also strengthening and diversifying communications with target audiences through community relations, speaking engagements, and the ways we tell ISC’s stories.

Marianne Huff

Festival Registration Coordinator

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 283
Email: marianne@storytellingcenter.net

Marianne is responsible for overseeing all mail, phone, and online registrations for the National Storytelling Festival as well as on-site Festival registration. Marianne joined the staff in 2012.

Angela White

Communications Associate

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 230
Email: angela@storytellingcenter.net

Angela serves as the communications associate. She administers all aspects of ISC’s marketing and digital communication efforts, including ISC’s web presence, traditional marketing, media relations, program ad sales, and coordinates sponsorships for Festival and Teller-in-Residence programming.  

Angela is a graduate of East Tennessee State University and holds a master’s degree in Brand and Media Strategy, and a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications. Angela joined ISC in 2021.

Sarah Bethea

Customer Service Host

Phone: 800-952-8392 ext. 222
Email: frontdesk@storytellingcenter.net

Sarah is responsible for welcoming and serving our on-site visitors at the ISC, providing information and support for registrants of the National Storytelling Festival and the Teller-In-Residence Series. Sarah is responsible for overseeing the vast volunteer program at the Center. She also assists the facility director with various activities. Sarah joined the staff in 2021.

Kiran Singh Sirah

Past President

Email: kirandeepsirah@gmail.com

Storytelling: A Peaceful Power – A TEDxNashville with Kiran Sirah

Namaste, y’all –  The Rotarian, February 2019

Speaker Profile

Kiran Singh Sirah is Past President of the International Storytelling Center (ISC), prior to his appointment at ISC, Kiran developed a number of award-winning arts, cultural and human rights programs in cultural centers across the UK and Ireland. Widely recognized for advancing storytelling as a tool for building social empathy and intercultural understanding, he has spoken and led programming at the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, the US Senate of foreign relations, US state department, and the Pentagon.  Kiran champions his beliefs in the power of human creativity, arts, storytelling and social justice through his advisory role to UNESCO Scotland and through his service as a Rotary Peace Fellow.  In 2017, Sirah was awarded the “Champion of Peace” recognition at the Rotary International Day ceremony at the United Nations in Geneva. Kiran firmly believes Storytelling not only has the power to enrich lives, but it also holds the key to building a conflict free society.

Jimmy Neil Smith

Founder & President Emeritus

Ariel Gratch, Vice Chairman

Second Term Ends 2024

Assistant Professor of Communication Arts Utica College

Ariel Gratch is an academic and a storyteller. As an academic, Ariel has published on how storytelling takes shape in the digital age, how storytelling plays an integral role in shaping our identities, and how storytelling is an educational tool. Ariel is also a storyteller who likes to experiment with new ways of telling stories, be it through audience participation, the incorporation of new media, or by drawing on avant-garde performance techniques in his telling. He has performed at the National Storytelling Festival’s Story Slam, the New Orleans Fringe Festival, the Experimental Methodologies Symposium in Surrey, the SOS Winter Storytelling Festival, and at many universities and theatres in the United States. Ariel loves to tell and listen and believes that we become our best selves through storytelling.

Harold Dishner, Treasurer

First Term Ends 2027

Owner, Agent State Farm Insurance

Harold has been a regular speaker in the financial services industry. He is recognized as an authority in the field of technology and staff development for insurance agencies. He has been a featured speaker in US and Canada..

Outside his agency, Harold enjoys investing in and developing real estate in the Southeast.  Harold is an active member of the local community with a particular passion for helping ETSU; and supporting the development of the arts and art education in our region.

He and his wife Nancy spend their spare time, enjoying the gardens and cooking in their home in Jonesborough .  

Lyn Ford

First Term Ends 2024

Adam Booth

First Term Ends 2027

Storyteller

Adam Booth is the 2022 West Virginia Folk Artist of the Year, awarded at the Governor’s Arts Awards. Adam blends traditional mountain folklore, music, and an awareness of contemporary Appalachia to create original, forward-thinking story artistry. As a nationally touring artist, his professional telling appearances include premiere arts and storytelling events across the United States, including the 2024-2025 Mid Atlantic Arts Touring Roster, the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, the National Storytelling Festival, and as a Spoken Word Resident at the Banff Centre (Alberta, Canada). Adam serves as the inaugural Storyteller-In-Residence at Shepherd University and is the founding artistic director of Speak Story Series, a premier destination for storytelling in concert.

Terry Countermine

First Term Ends 2027

Retired Professor Emeritus, Department of Computing

East Tennessee State University

Lynda Harris, Chairwoman

First Term Ends 2024

Adam Dickson

First Term Ends 2027

Director, Langston Centre

Adam Dickson is a community advocate and servant-leader. His professional experiences include local government, higher education, and the nonprofit sector. Adam currently works for the City of Johnson City, TN as Supervisor of the Langston Centre, a multicultural facility promoting community engagement through the arts, education, and leadership. He is Vice-Mayor on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for the Town of Jonesborough, and he is an Adjunct Instructor of Political Science at East TN State University.  Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Carson-Newman University, and he received a Master of Public Administration degree from East TN State University.

Dana Helvey

First Term Ends 2027

Sue O’Halloran

First Term Ends 2023

Senior Consultant for The Kaleidoscope Group

Producer, Speaker and Storyteller – O’Halloran Diversity Productions

Since 1969, Sue O’Halloran has performed nationally and internationally and led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion seminars in corporate and nonprofit settings. Sue is author of several books and curricula including Diversity in Our Schools, Common Cross-Cultural Mistakes, Kaleidoscope: Valuing Differences and Creating Inclusion and Compelling Stories, Compelling Causes: Nonprofit Marketing Success.

In addition, Sue produces award-winning multicultural performances including White, Black and Brown: Tribes & Bridges at the Steppenwolf Theatre and More Alike Than Not: Stories of Three Americans – Christian, Jewish and Muslim. She is producer/director of the www.RacebridgesStudio.com site which showcases over 250 social justice video stories and receives over half a million visitors each year.

Sue believes in the power of storytelling to bring people together. About her own storytelling skills, The Chicago Reader’s Critic Choice said, “O’Halloran has mastered the Irish art of telling stories that are funny and heart-wrenching at the same time.”

Lee Patterson

First Term Ends 2027

Retired Attorney

Terry Countermine

Board Emeritus Member – 2020

Terry served on the ISC Board from 2013-2019, and is on active status again in 2024.

Thelma Kidd

Board Emeritus Member – 2020

Thelma served on the ISC Board from 2013-2019.