Career educator, Trainer, Subject Matter Expert

Adult Learning
Professional Development
Storytelling
Advocacy
Leadership

MA.Ed in Language, Reading and Culture

Dedicated to fostering growth and building community through participatory approaches, collaborative learning and reflective practice.

Roles with Elevation Educational Consulting Group and Creative Narrations: Trainer, Coach, Professional Development, Technical Assistance

StoryArts Group, Inc.

StoryArts Program Director - curate and produce public storytelling events in collaboration with community partners

Selected work

Copy for LLC site COABE 2025 Student Voice through Multimedia

Student Voice - virtual presentation for COABE national conference for adult educators and students

Stories for Change - ARPA funded project - community multimedia storytelling and resources for educators

AZ TESOL 2024 Featured Speaker - Digital Storytelling and Participatory Multimedia for the Literacies

"Belonging" - a collaboration between Odyssey storytelling and Iskashitaa Refugee Network to amplify the voices of refugees and asylum seekers and highlight their contributions to our community as well as hear about their journeys to arrive here.

A Question of Repair_ 2-21 Final w Forward.pdf

Our EECG team used an equity-centered co-design research approach focused on Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties to answer the primary question: How can workforce development agencies and organizations become a source of repair both within their own organizations and for individuals and communities that have been failed by multiple systems?

We collected data from focus groups and interviews with staff, leaders and clients of the Bay Area workforce development system.

Being on the research team for this project especially aligned with my background and interest in participatory practice, elevating voices of those who need to be heard, and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis.

Collaboration with Seven Directions

Link to the guide online

A complete guide for participatory data storytelling! Co-authoring this publication was a magnum opus for me!

Co-authoring with adult learners

Link to the article PDF

We reflected deeply on the ripple effects of collaboration as representational leaders and adult learners together.

Laura has 30 years of experience in adult education fostering learner autonomy, making meaning through contextualized instruction, and centering learner and community voices. She is focused on collaborative, constructivist approaches that are rooted in participatory learning theories. Her expertise includes professional development, civic engagement, media literacy, digital storytelling, instruction/curriculum, workforce development, leadership training, and advocacy. She has scaled various models and initiatives for leadership development, digital storytelling, and constituent engagement for use in multiple contexts. Currently, Laura is a trainer and consultant with Creative Narrations and Elevation Educational Consulting Group. She also does free-lance consultancies for education, government, and non-profit groups. As a trainer with Creative Narrations, she trains participants representing adult education, tribal health, and community health workers to produce multimedia movies from their stories of lived experience. As a consultant with Elevation Educational Consulting Group, she does participatory research, curriculum and standards, and various trainings for education staff, teachers, and leaders. She serves as a leader locally on the boards of Odyssey Storytelling and Iskashitaa Refugee Network and was a founding member of the Students as Leaders Task Force for the Coalition On Adult Basic Education.

Awards and Publications

Data Storytelling through Participatory Media - A Step-by-Step Guide for Public Health Practitioners - National Association of County and City Health Officials in collaboration with Seven Directions Center for Indigenous Health, 2024

Students Take the Lead: Promoting Diversity & Inclusion in Adult Ed - COABE Journal, 2023

Arizona Association for Lifelong Learning - Advocate Award, 2021

“Adult Learners Engage with the Drivers of Persistence” blog article for World Education 2017

Arizona Association for Lifelong Learning - Award of Excellence 2012

“Student Leaders as Advocates” case study article, National Coalition for Literacy 2012

The Push and Pull of Peers on Women Learners, Ch. 26 in Miller, M. & King K.P. Empowering Women Through Literacy, 2009

El Pueblo Liberty – Oral History 2000

Get in touch at LauraPorfirioLLC@gmail.com

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