Beth Allen brings decades of experience in global humanitarian development and higher education. Storytelling weaves its way through all of Beth’s past professional experiences. Most recently, Beth has more than a decade’s experience training boots-on-the-ground personnel to gather fundraising stories for a global humanitarian NGO. She also helped pilot the NGO's first global digital asset management (DAM) system, allowing personnel and consultants worldwide to access tagged/searchable stories, images and video clips. With her worldwide team of communications coordinators, Beth crafted a digital asset inventory supporting child sponsorship communications, direct mail, email, social media, donor reports, and grant proposals. Additionally, Beth has led efforts to ensure that storytelling maintains the dignity of the people that charities serve. This included reaching agreements in a worldwide consortium of more than 20 members, on basic standards for obtaining informed consent. Beth has also served as a disaster information officer, and has several decades’ experience in managing media relations and sensitive information flow in the midst of war and disaster responses. Beth’s story gathering career started when she served as the communications coordinator for an NGO’s operation in La Paz, Bolivia. Prior to her work in humanitarian relief and development, Beth worked for more than a decade in higher education, where ethical storytelling is key to helping students and families choose a college. When she’s not working, Beth currently serves on her church board and teaches in the church’s adult education courses. She loves vocal music, gardening, reading, crafting and hiking in the Sonoran Desert.