shareVOICES
life story exchange
Facilitator & Her Story
Facilitator Emma Reinhardt has devoted the last 20 years to developing methodologies for story-exchange among diverse communities. For the past decade, she has been teaching reflective writing classes at Pine Manor College where she has guided her students toward self-awareness, self-appreciation, and deep empathy for and connection to others. Emma’s students have produced poignant, experiential writing, allowing them to feel more empowered, satisfied, and effective in their own lives.
Emma earned a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies in 2000, and did field research in Northern Ireland and Northeast Kenya. In 2004, after working with several human rights organizations, she founded HERvoices to facilitate life-story exchanges between communities in conflict. Through HERvoices, Emma collected personal testimonials from hundreds of women around the world, and shared them with thousands in mixed audiences. Several of her own articles have been published in The Boston Globe, The World & I and Peace Prints, for example, and her work has been honored by others, including Glamour magazine, SindhWatch, and The Center for Nonviolent Solutions.
Sometimes, just writing about your life can quiet your discomforts;
often, sharing about your life can inform you of your own triumphs; and inevitably, hearing about another’s life can resolve something in you, and remind you of your humanity.
Emma lives in Brookline with her husband and three children.
”Emma’s gentle style, and effective guidance
helped me to write with more honesty, and
feel open to sharing with my peers in our circle.
I wrote about vulnerabilities from my life …
and then felt supported, understood … and freer.
I feel able now to be closer to the people around me.”