Bold Voice Collaborative was a pandemic pop-up founded by Deborah Siegel-Acevedo. We were a consortium of master teachers with experience in journalism, media, book publishing, public speaking, and live performance. We believed (still do) in the power of storytelling, truth-telling, and narrative. We offered online courses and consulting in these realms.
During the pandemic, our “Voice the Pandemic: Flash Nonfiction Workshop to Capture Our Lives in Transition” was delivered to 70+ participants through six public workshops and four private programs tailored for Women’s Business Development Center, Mental Health America, Ms. Classroom, and private writing groups. Workshops resulted in publications in venues including the New York Times (“It’s Ok to Watch Schitts’ Creek with Your Kids") and Slate (“When My Father Called Me About His Unemployment”), as well as a mid-pandemic virtual storytelling event.
Bold Voice Collaborative partnered with local and national organizations (Economic Hardship Reporting Project, Mighty Forces, Mindy Stricke: Art That Connects Us) as well as pandemic archives (including We Been Essential: Chronicles of Black and Brown Essential Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic) to bring the project to a broader audience and secure funding for essential workers to take the workshop for free.