Katie O’Hara-Krebs is a long-time writer, storyteller, and collector of tales. She is the co-creator of Write to Shine, a creative writing business that works and collaborates with audiences in the Centre region. Write to Shine helps individuals find and use their authentic voices through writing, demystify the act through “recreational writing” as a means to uncover deeper meaning and connection with themselves and the world. Katie’s background is in marketing and corporate communications for companies including The Walt Disney Company and Nintendo of America. She has also spent time as a journalist and freelance writer. But her passion is not to share the words of large organizations, but instead to encourage people to find themselves through writing and relating to the world with words. Katie lives in State College with her husband and daughters, and enjoys writing, reading, hiking, drinking lots of coffee and having inspired conversations.

Born and raised in Coudersport, PA, Britta is a lover of language and storytelling. She holds two degrees in Communication. Professionally, Britta’s background is in teaching writing courses to first-year college students. She has taught at both Virginia Tech and Penn State, respectively. Currently, Britta’s time is centered around family life and community involvement in State College, where she has lived and built relationships for the past 10 years. With the belief that all populations of people can write, Britta champions writing programs that offer space for self-expression and reflection based on real life happenings. Learning, healing, humor, and discovering one’s wit is possible through writing and offers connective tissue, worth sharing, among people. In November 2023, Britta told a story as part of Ridgelines’ program Blood Lines about her reproductive experiences during the postpartum period of pregnancy. Together with her husband, she has a son and a daughter. 

Alison Condie Jaenicke has spent much of her life writing, teaching, and coaching in various places along the Appalachian Mountain chain. Born in the Alleghenies of western PA, Alison was raised near Washington, DC; earned her BA and MA in English at the University of Virginia; and lived for a time in Knoxville, TN, near the Smoky Mountains. Since 2001, she’s been settled in the center of her birth state. Until retirement in 2024, Alison served as Assistant Director of Creative Writing at Penn State University, where she taught writing and acted as advisor for the student literary magazine, Kalliope.  Alison’s essays and stories have appeared in numerous literary journals. Alison currently aims to balance her time among passions both sedentary and active—reading, writing, photography, hiking, biking, camping, gardening, and beachcombing.

Shannon Telenko is a lifelong Pennsylvanian with roots in eastern and western ends of the state. She has called central Pennsylvania home since 2005, when she started working on a research project about urban-to-rural migration. Her knowledge of history and culture guides her in collaboratively developing applied, educational opportunities for college students, higher education employees, and community advocates through her university work and other projects. Shannon puts her feelings into writing through poetry, blog posts, and letters to the editor. Living in State College with her family, she enjoys making her home a beautiful and nurturing place, hiking new and familiar trails around Rothrock State Forest, reading creative non-fiction books, and seeing live music.