Storytellers

Val Swan grew up in Vermont and Upstate NY, studying at the University of Rochester before finishing her BA in sociology at the University of Arizona. She lived in Austin, TX for five years prior to coming to Greensboro, NC in early 2004. Val is a dreamer, writer, and champion at heart, inspiring others to be their most authentic selves through mentoring, designing, and delivering leadership programs for youth through the YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Program and the Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont. She is currently senior program manager for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Executive Nurse Fellows program at the Center for Creative Leadership. She enjoys music, singing, and muddling through on the guitar, especially around a campfire. Val is a Crohn’s disease survivor for 25 years– a challenge that has sparked her passion around wellness, and taught her to relish building strength through vulnerability. www.whyilikerainbows.com