It is with a tremendous sense of sadness that we share with our community the news of the loss of Stefani Sese, our East Coast Director here at StoryCenter. She passed away on Saturday, April 20, 2019, at peace with her family after living with cancer for seven years. We send our deepest love and condolences to her husband Maurice, their family and friends, and to the grand family of StoryCenter. Stefani supported many people, in so many processes of reflection and story making, with a radiant smile, and a joyful heart. Her loss will be felt all across the world of our work.
In her memory, we are dedicating ourselves to continued story work with youth around the issues of the criminalization of our young people, and helping to support processes of restorative justice.
We call out to her spirit, and her dedication, Stefani Sese, Presente!
Stefani Sese Fund for Justice
To support programming related to restorative justice and the criminalization of youth in America
StoryCenter will honor the enormous contributions of Stefani Sese to our organization, in the context of the fight for justice in many areas. In her memory, we will contribute $10,000 to a fund at StoryCenter dedicated to pro-bono support of storytelling activities by our staff, in collaboration with organizations working in the areas of restorative justice, opposition to the criminalization of youth, and the struggle against the prison industrial complex that forces many young people into the criminal justice system. We will hold at least one workshop each year on these issues, and we aim to sustain an ongoing fund in Stefani's name.
About Stefani
Stefani was the East Coast Director of StoryCenter from 2007 to 2019. Before joining our organization, she spent many years at the Discovery Channel as a producer. She came up as an artist-activist in Latino theater and community arts in the Washington D.C. area. In her work with StoryCenter, she was known for her compassion, her absolute attention to detail, her spontaneous laugh, her love for nature and her beloved New Mexico, and of course, for her desire to move, to dance, and to have us all bring our whole bodies into our story making processes.
She is deeply missed.
Please contact Root Barrett, for more information.