Meet Denise Manning Keyes, she/her
Founder, Story Artist, Producer, Co-Creater of IDEAL
Denise Keyes Page is founder of story artists corps: Ubuntu Storytellers and co-founder of Women Tell by the Decades; a story telling series. The productions of both groups have been enthusiastically received and attended. All shows are curated and artists are coached prior to performance.
As an artist, Denise’s stories include those of victim and saint as well as those too often untold stories of the spaces in between. Though newer to the field Denise has already enjoyed being selected to perform at the National Storytelling Network’s Annual Conference, the Women’s Storytelling Festival in VA, Saul Fussiner’s, “Songs and Stories” Artists Standing Strong Together, “Better Said Than Done,” International Festival of Arts and Ideas and more. A Connecticut native, many of her stories stem from her experience of being a multi -generational African American New Englander. Denise believes that sharing and listening to the stories of others has the capacity to normalize the inevitable challenges of life and deepen understanding of others.
She is a lifelong advocate for and leader in the field of social justice. In 1997 she founded DreamCatchers, a Training and Consulting Firm and with her nationally recognized team, provided workplace DEI training for corporate, nonprofit, academic, civic, community, healthcare, judicial and law enforcement environments.
Ubuntu Storytellers brings together her life experience and talents by bringing social justice issues to light through true stories and then workshopping as a community the learnings and applied action. Her years of expertise at guiding results driven workshops combined with her natural talent for storytelling lead participants from heart to head to hand.
Ms. Page is also a newly elected Board member of Northeast Storytelling (NEST) and serves as VP on the Connecticut Storytelling Center (CSC) Board of Directors. In addition, she is President Elect of the National Speakers Association, CT chapter and a member of Toastmasters Int; Niantic.
She tells (and facilitates) to enlighten and inspire, to laugh and cry and most of all to build bridges of understanding.
Denise believes as she paraphrases here . . . “In order to serve the people, you have to respect the people; in order to respect the people, you have to know the people; in order to know the people, you have to be open to the discomfort of learning their stories,” and she adds “as well as your own.”