Lead Instructor: Laura Porfirio
Laura Porfirio is a lifelong educator with more than 30 years of experience in adult education, leadership training, and participatory learning. Her work focuses on helping people connect real-world experience to story, uncover their strengths, and amplify voices that need to be heard. 
Her background includes:
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Adult education and leadership training across Arizona and nationally 
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Curriculum design and participatory teaching rooted in constructivist learning theory 
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Digital storytelling workshops that help people turn lived experience into multimedia narratives 
Laura’s teaching approach is collaborative, supportive, and grounded in the belief that storytelling becomes transformative when people connect experience, reflection, and craft. Laura is fluent in Spanish, Italian, and English.
Angela Orlando, Ph.D.
is the founder of Wandering Writers Workshops and an anthropologist specializing in lived experience, tourism, and culture. She designs place-based learning experiences that help people connect travel, reflection, and storytelling. Angela opens each workshop with an anthropology-based lecture to situate participants in place and context and supports the overall workshop experience.
