Our Team

Sarah White is a Freelance writer and personal historian who helps people write about their lives and works as a developmental editor, writing coach, and ghostwriter. She teaches reminiscence writing, creative nonfiction, and writing craft. Holds a degree in Journalism from Indiana University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King's College. Has taught Guided Autobiography workshops since 2004. Instructor, "Find Your Students, Fill Your Classes" for Birren Center.

Cheryl Svensson has been involved in the field of aging since she graduated from the first Masters in Gerontology program at the University of Southern California (USC) in 1977 and later completed her Ph.D. at the University of Lund, Sweden. She worked closely with Dr. James Birren, founding Dean of the Davis School of Gerontology at USC, and is the Director of the Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies. The Birren Center is dedicated to researching and developing programs to help people write and share their life stories. She has taught Guided Autobiography (GAB) at USC, UCLA, CSUF, libraries, and senior and assisted living centers. In 2009 she created a live, interactive online training course to teach students how to become GAB instructors; there are now nearly 700 GAB instructors in 32 countries. She is the co-author with Richard Campbell of the book, Writing Your Legacy: The step-by-step guide to crafting your life story and Bonnie Bernell, Uncovering the Treasures that Matter. She’s passionate about writing and sharing life stories. Cheryl makes her home bi-continentally - living in the fast lane in southern California and in the bike lane in Sweden.

Ansley Dauenhauer is a life-long educator and writer. Her roles in schools, museums, and parish settings have afforded her opportunities to connect with students of all ages through the curricula she has developed on topics that range from Latin programs for elementary school students to summer science camps to untangling church doctrine for the lay person to demystifying writing advanced research papers for high school students. Ansley has captured her experiences in these settings in words, some of which have been published in both local and national presses. Her twin passions of teaching and writing led her to GAB. In 2023, she became a certified GAB instructor and began offering Guided Memoir Writing classes and freelance editing services at her venture, The Lofty Quill.

When Angela Turner lost her father in 2015, she was left with questions no one could answer and stories no one had thought to preserve. That loss set her on a purposeful path through legacy writing, digital storytelling, photo management, reminiscence therapy, and end-of-life and grief doula work — she is, in her own words, about "all things legacy."

As founder of SOS Legacies in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and a Certified Guided Autobiography Facilitator, Angela has woven GAB into nearly everything she does, finding it the most powerful framework for helping people uncover and articulate the lives they've lived.

Driven by a desire to connect with and understand others, Clinton began paying attention to human behavior at an early age. He gravitated to his grandfather’s stories of adventure but realized his secondhand retellings fell far short of the originals. This led to an epiphany—Clinton saw the power of the first person, his innate curiosity, and his love for people come together in what clients describe as his “gifting.” In 2009, Clinton founded StoryKeeping, marking the start of his journey as a legacy filmmaking pioneer.

Steven Weisberg is a 2012 Birren Center GAB grad who was inspired by the themed-based structure it offered for self-reflexive memoir writing and how those life-stories came to life through oral recitation.

“My branching out story involved the opportunity to meet Senator Robert F. Kennedy during his 1968 Presidential Campaign. Inspired by his famous quote “'Some men see things as they are, and say why. I dream of things that never were, and say why not.” I’ve spent a lifetime down that road less traveled seeking to bring new ideas to life”.

As a member of the Birren Board, I’d like to develop working collaborations with established institutions to create welcoming partnerships to bring the inspired life work of Dr. James Birren into local communities through the network of graduates of the GAB program he created.