Stories for Freedom
Introducing a new cohort of TMI Project workshop leaders!
WHERE: Senate Garage, 4 N Front St, Kingston, NY 12401 (and online via livestream)
WHEN: Thursday, July 17, 2025
In person Freedom Fair: 6pm-7pm, Performance 7pm-8pm EST
Livestream: 7pm-8pm EST
COST: $25 Suggested donation
RSVP: Required for in-person and live stream registration
This special edition of Stories for Freedom will introduce our community to the incredible individuals who make up TMI Project’s next cohort of true storytelling workshop leaders. Our workshop leaders are not only skilled facilitators – they are community members, activists, and artists with embodied experience of TMI Project’s unique storytelling methodology.
Meet the Storytellers
Meghna Bhat
“With a strong commitment to trauma-informed and anti-oppressive values, I am eager to use storytelling to amplify the voices of underrepresented groups, including survivors of gender violence and marginalized communities. Becoming a TMI Project Workshop Leader will allow me to cultivate the cultural responsiveness and values needed to create inclusive and impactful narratives.”
Shaniqua Bowden
“I joined the Workshop Leader Training program because I believe in the power of storytelling to create transformation—not just for the storyteller, but for the entire community. Conversations rooted in truth and vulnerability have the ability to heal, challenge perspectives, and inspire action.”
Lex
“I joined the TMI Project Workshop Leader Training because I thought it would be fun, and also offer a space to learn to do deep transformational work with a lot of people.”
Tyler Epps
“I have wanted to work with TMI Project ever since I really became aware of what was happening here. I joined the Workshop Leader Training Program because I want to work with the wonderful people here, and offer what I can into that mix. It’s a beautiful privilege that I am not taking for granted.”
Rachel Fulginiti
“I’m passionate about truth telling, building community and sharing stories as an act of resistance. I’ve seen the incredible work TMI Project does and the impact it makes on lives. I’m excited to enter this new chapter of my creative life with TMI Project.”
Shaun Gills
“I really value the structure TMI Project provides for writers and creatives, allowing the attendee to fully immerse themselves in their own stories and discover something new. I am appreciative of the opportunity to be a student again, while also gaining the tools to help others.”
Sharece Johnson
“I joined the TMI Project Workshop Leader Training program because I’m excited to be in a learning space and also looking forward to facilitating and holding space for people to be their authentic selves.”
Shai Kuper
“I joined TMI Project’s Workshop Leader Training to enhance my creative expressions with other like minded folks, build a network of story tellers within my communities, and to learn and unlearn mine and others’ lived experiences.”
Angélica Medaglia-Paljor
“I deeply value the true stories shared by others through their TMI Project performances. They have kindled my aspiration for helping to create an inclusive, supportive and empowering environment where the Latinx local community can share their own stories, feel safe, and strengthen their sense of belonging in the larger local community.”
Lily Ariel Mueller
“Stories, and storytelling, have saved and changed my life a million times over. Supporting others in their work to tell their stories is a privilege, and a challenge, that I’m so grateful to have the chance to dive into through TMI Project.”
Achiro P. Olwoch
“I joined the Workshop Leader Training program to refine my ability to create engaging, inclusive learning spaces where participants feel empowered to share their voices. This program offers the perfect opportunity to grow as an educator while fostering meaningful connections through storytelling.”
Kat Samedova
“I’ve always been passionate about advocacy, and my time working with the TMI Project and Period Power made me realize my true potential. I couldn’t think of a group I’d rather work with.”
Workshop Leaders
Dara Lurie
“I jumped at the opportunity to participate as a storyteller in TMI Project’s first workshop and performance of #BlackStoriesMatter in early 2017 and, later that year, as a TMI Project teacher-trainee. I can’t think of more important work than helping people tell their true stories. If you think it’s simple, you should try it sometime.”
In addition to leading TMI Project workshops, Dara is an author and manuscript coach. She received a B.A. in Film & Theater from Vassar College and M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Hunter College. Dara grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and migrated in the early 1980s to West Berlin, Germany, where she tended bar, wrote and performed in the theater while living in different communities of squatters, Green Party activists, journalists, teachers, and social workers. Her first book, Great Space of Desire; Writing for Personal Evolution, is a memoir and creative guide for writers wishing to tell their own stories.
Eva Tenuto
“One of the most rewarding parts of working at TMI Project is seeing what storytellers look like when they step off the stage. It often looks like they’re floating out of the theater. They look taller; lighter. It’s as if something has truly been lifted. To be able to witness that over and over fills my spirit. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”
Eva Tenuto co-founded TMI Project in 2010, spearheading a movement using true storytelling as a liberation practice for social justice. With an unwavering commitment to releasing shame and stigma through true storytelling, Eva has propelled TMI Project from her living room to the United Nations, and many places in between. Since then, she has guided thousands of people to write and share their stories.
In addition to being TMI Project’s executive director, Eva is a multi-disciplinary artist. She is the co-host of the award-winning podcast, The TMI Project Story Hour. She is the editor and director of multiple solo shows, one of which was awarded Best Comedic Script in the United Solo Festival. Her award-winning documentary shorts Vicarious Resilience, Locker Room Talk, and One Story at a Time: Celeste Lecesne have screened around the world, including at esteemed festivals like DC/DOX, Woodstock Film Festival, and GlobeDocs by The Boston Globe. Eva’s personal essays have appeared in assorted anthologies and online publications.
Eva is a sought-after speaker on topics such as storytelling, social justice, women’s leadership, recovery, and shame. She has presented at many institutions, including UN Women, Omega Institute, and A Call to Men, among others. In 2018, she had the privilege of presenting #MeToo founder Tarana Burke with the Eleanor Roosevelt Center’s Medal of Honor.
Raine Grayson
“TMI Project does the exact kind of work that the world needs. From the moment I learned about them I wanted to contribute to the way they spread outstanding courage, community, and kindness. TMI Project makes the world a more honest, open place and I am honored to be given the chance to help foster and facilitate their mission.”
Raine Grayson is a multi-genre writer whose work focuses on exploring and uplifting the LGBTQIA+ community. He specializes in social action theatre and also dabbles in academic essays and creative non-fiction. He founded “Queeries Blog” – a space for queer artists to publish their work freely. He’s worked with The TMI Project before in conjunction with the Trevor Project for “Life Lines: Queer Stories Of Survival”. He’s spoken his suicide survival story on nationally streaming platforms for Trevor Live in support of their suicide prevention chat line. His nonfiction work can be found featured at Queeries Blog, Go Magazine, The Paragon Press, Weasel Press, and soon So Say We All’s magazine “The Whole Alphabet”. His playwriting has been featured by The Playwriting Collective, The Tank, NY Madness, KIT Theatre, The Rosendale Theatre, and Virtual Theatre Collaboration. He is a recipient of the SUNY Thayer Fellowship and Patricia Kerr Ross Award for his playwriting, as well as being recognized as a runner-up for the The Playwriting Collective’s Ball Grant. If you’d like to queer up your timeline, find him on social media @rainerpism.
Program Description
Stories for Freedom is inspired by practices of liberation that have emerged from Black and Indigenous communities, and aims to challenge us all to take bold action in the disruption of systemic oppression. We believe deeply in the power of storytelling to liberate both the speaker and those who listen.
Our newest cohort of storytellers and workshop leaders are a dynamic group of people from across the country as well as our own homebase in the Hudson Valley region of New York. The group is composed of authors, visual artists, activists, educators, musicians, and scholars, all of whom use storytelling in their work to build a world where we all are free to speak our truths.
True storytelling workshops are the cornerstone of our work at TMI Project. We believe that those who lead this work must be deeply rooted in it – by personally experiencing the transformative power of crafting a true “TMI” story and performing it on stage themselves.
Having spent 10 weeks in training, our future workshop leaders are ready to courageously perform their personal narratives and step into leadership to support others who want to share their stories.
Sponsors
Want to be a Stories for Freedom Partner?
There are a few ways you can partner with TMI Project to change the world, one story at a time.
Table at our Freedom Fair:
Represent your organization at our first ever Freedom Fair from 6-7 at The Senate Garage before the show.
Limited spots available – first come, first serve!
Host of Viewing Party:
Provide free programming for your community by hosting a FREE screening of this Stories for Freedom performance!