A Good Head on Your Shoulders! Alisia and Niko

My name is Alisia Lilliebridge, and I chose my youngest brother Nikolas Perales for this interview because we are a decade apart in age! I thought it could be a thought-provoking conversation. One of the topics we always discuss is...

People and Places: The Influence They Have On Us

Janet shares the story of her brother, a close family member, who was gone too soon. She talks about how he inspired her and how she honors his life today by keeping his story alive.

Sijaama Branch & Scott Acord

Sijaama shares her story of having sickle cell disease. How she felt embarrassed as a kid and hid it from everyone but her family. Over the years she has learned to manage the symptoms, but still has moments where she...

Nicolette Nordin Heavey and Alex Wu

Creating Community Through Sharing Stories: Nicolette Nordin Heavey was born Detroit, but spent the majority of her childhood in Belgium and England. After attending college in America, she moved to Andover to raise her family. Wanting to help contribute to...

Karen Ashley & Mike Drummond

As a Black woman, Karen has faced racism in the workplace and has been the only person of color in a meeting many times throughout her career. She shares with Mike what drew her to the DEI work she does...

Sumiko Hatakeyama

Peace Boat staff Sumiko Hatakeyama shares the story of how meeting nuclear bomb survivors at the age of 19 started her peacebuilding journey. She also provides advice for aspiring peace builders, and encourages everyone to meet people in person and...

Miriam "Merry" Bauch & Katy Abelson

When the war broke out, Merry's father and brother were sent to concentrations camps where they were killed. She was sent to a separate camp from her mother, but managed to find one another later in Zakopane, Poland after the...

Kevin O'Leary and Alex Wu

Andover Stories of American Identity: Andover resident Kevin O'Leary shares his story about his worldly upbringing, and how it all led to his profession of becoming a psychologist to help wounded veterans heal.