MemoryFox and When Bearing Witness Are Partnering to Support Trauma-Informed Storytellers
Starting with the Summer 2026 cohort, MemoryFox is now officially integrated into the When Bearing Witness program, bringing modern, ethical story-gathering tools directly to nonprofit storytellers.
We’ve long believed that the way a story is gathered matters just as much as the story itself. That the process — who holds power in it, how consent is practiced, whether the person sharing feels safe — shapes everything that comes after.
It’s why, when we first encountered When Bearing Witness, Maria Bryan’s professional development program for nonprofit storytellers, we felt an immediate sense of recognition. Here was a program teaching exactly the values we’d built MemoryFox around: consent, agency, and emotional safety.
Today, we’re excited to announce that we’re making that alignment official. Beginning with the Summer 2026 cohort, MemoryFox is partnering with When Bearing Witness in an ongoing collaboration designed to give nonprofit storytellers both the philosophy and the practical tools they need to gather stories with care.
“MemoryFox has long been my go-to recommendation for a more modern and efficient way to gather stories. Through this partnership, that support will now be built more directly into the program experience.”
Why this partnership, and why now
When Bearing Witness has always grounded storytellers in the “why” behind trauma-informed story gathering. But as Maria continued to teach the program, she noticed a gap: nonprofit teams are increasingly using digital tools to collect stories, and the program hadn’t yet addressed those workflows directly.
That’s exactly where MemoryFox comes in. We’re built for exactly this moment, helping organizations gather stories at scale without losing the humanity at the center of it. Our platform was designed from the ground up with trauma-informed principles in mind, so practitioners don’t have to choose between efficiency and care.
This partnership bridges that gap. It brings modern story-gathering tools into a program that already teaches people how to use them thoughtfully.
What’s changing for When Bearing Witness students
What’s now included in the program:
- A new MemoryFox submodule
- Added to the Story Gathering section, covering how to use digital tools in ways that are trauma-informed and practical.
- Exclusive community discount
- Students who choose to invest in MemoryFox receive a special discounted rate created for the When Bearing Witness community.
- Step-by-step onboarding & templates
- Practical guides and resources to help students start gathering stories from day one — without a steep learning curve.
- White-glove support from our team
- When Bearing Witness students get hands-on help from MemoryFox to make sure they’re using the tool with confidence.
These resources will be available to both incoming and past students of When Bearing Witness, so if you’ve already completed the program, you’ll have access, too.
Built on shared values
Partnerships like this work when they’re rooted in genuine alignment, not just complementary products, but complementary beliefs. Both MemoryFox and When Bearing Witness are built on the conviction that ethical story gathering isn’t a constraint on good work. It is the work.
We don’t think organizations should have to trade efficiency for humanity. And we don’t think storytellers should have to choose between using modern tools and practicing with integrity. This collaboration is our way of making that case in practice, not just in principle.
We’re grateful to Maria and the When Bearing Witness community for the trust behind this collaboration, and genuinely excited to see the stories that come out of it.
