Your Favorite Storytellers Foundation, Inc. is a non-for-profit organization founded in 2002 and dedicated to professionalism in the art of storytelling and music. We utilize "Heshima," which means respect in Swahili, as an essential foundation. Heshima will be used to promote the oral tradition of storytelling and music. Heshima is how we will impart knowledge of the cultures of people of African ancestry. We will use Heshima to attract and develop Master Storytellers/Jelis for the purpose of demonstrating high content and inspiring quality.

Your Favorite Storytellers Foundation, Inc. will create presentation performances, festivals, seminars, concerts, newsletters, workshops, and learning systems to enhance and promote storytelling and music. Education is key, along with research and research skills, in order to offer accurate and illuminating information based in truth.

Your Favorite Storytellers Foundation, Inc. is committed to developing professional storytellers by creating an environment for advancing the careers of professional artists. When growth and knowledge are grounded in purpose and passion, it forms a foundation to demonstrate enormous success. We will offer a guideline of competencies for storytelling. The competencies are: Authorship and Quality Product Development, Managing a Storytelling Business, Platform Skills, Presenting and Performing, Professional Awareness, Professional Relationships, Sales and Marketing, Story Development, Developing Community, Hiring a Storyteller's Coach, and Oratory Skills Sets .

Our "It's All About Heshima, Respect" concert series will begin in 2002 with our first offering of "The Men of Storytelling" (10 Male Storytellers). Our second offering in 2003 will be "The Women of Storytelling" (10 Women Storytellers); and our third offering will be "The Multi-Racial Storytelling Circle" (7 different Cultures represented). We will create opportunities to utilize and expand our learning of other cultures in order to have a better connection and appreciation for our differences and commonalities.

Mission Statement

The primary purpose of Your Favorite Storytellers Foundation, Inc. is to promote the art of the oral traditions of storytelling and music. As we develop partnerships and collaborations, we will expand the awareness and tremendous contributions of storytellers. Our foundation is dedicated to keeping a strong presence of the cultures of people of African ancestry throughout the diaspora for all its stakeholders.