About StoryFile

“I just wanted to be able to sit across from an individual who might not be with us anymore and feel as though I was having a conversation with them!”

Heather Maio-Smith, CVO & Co-Founder, StoryFile

StoryFile's Story

In 2010 Heather Maio-Smith was creating an exhibit on intergenerational testimony with Holocaust survivors. As she talked to Rose Schindler, she realized that her grandchildren would never have the chance to talk to survivors  personally and experience what I was learning. 

After creating a 3D prototype, she brought the project to USC Shoah Foundation and USC Institute of Creative Technologies and ultimately formed a partnership to secure this in-depth interactive interview methodology. 

Heather had always intended to use the interactive concept she had created to preserve the stories of humanity for future generations.  In 2017, she launched StoryFile to create  a cloud-based, no-code, automatic platform that would bring the power of conversational video into everyone’s hands.

StoryFile's Company Values

From the outset StoryFile determined it would be a company that people could trust.

From the outset StoryFile determined it would be a company that people could trust.
Our company values reflect our product. We are innovative, trustworthy, and authentic. In a world of bots, droids, deep-fakes and avatars, we took the decision that we wanted to make our AI more human, preserving original narratives and voices.

At the heart of our values is you and your story.

PHOTO: StoryFile’s first two employees – Gabrielle Sobel and Julia Campbell
Do Well, Do Good

StoryFile is a technology company with a social conscience. Its very ethos is rooted in doing good for humanity, and was founded to make the world a better place by giving voice to people everywhere.

We are a for-profit venture that strives to provide our investors with good returns. We also believe that social capital has value, too. The founders of StoryFile operate on a 'do well, do good' principle. We believe it is possible to do good things in society, while doing well in business. This philosophy combined with the values of innovation, trustworthiness, and authenticity, help guide our decision making and business model. The ‘do well, do good’ principle allows StoryFile to give voice and fund projects with historical, social, and cultural importance that otherwise might not be preserved for future generations.

PHOTO: Heather Maio-Smith, CEO StoryFile and Stephen Smith, Chairman
Meet the StoryFile Team

Viola Fletcher, 106, Tulsa Race Massacre Survivor

We have committed ourselves to using AI ethically.

There has been much debate about the future of AI and there are undoubtedly dangers associated with algorithms making seemingly human decisions.

StoryFile’s conversational video uses AI to help the process of matching and retrieving video content provided by our customers. Our commitment is to them. We do not change or manipulate any content that was not said, or recreate the image in ways that were not originally intended by the customer or creator. 

We strive to make our AI free of racial, religious, gender, or linguistic biases. We want to ensure that our AI policies promote fairness on our platforms and do everything we can to reflect the true intention of the interviewee. While the views of the interviewees are their own, our AI is not biased and does not promote any particular view; it does however match the content captured within each StoryFile with the questions being asked. That being said, the StoryFile team does its best to flag inappropriate and inaccurate content. We believe AI should be transparent.

Learn More about The Tulsa StoryFile Exhibit

We have committed ourselves to creating a diverse, inclusive, safe, and respectful place to work.

We have committed ourselves to creating a diverse, inclusive, safe, and respectful place to work.

We are committed to overcoming the disadvantages and exclusion that our economy, society, and culture has forced upon vulnerable groups. Because those biases are built into a long history of marginalization, we recognize that it will take considerable effort to ensure that StoryFile reflects and represents the entire population.

Our diversity, equity, and inclusion policies provide guidelines to ensure that our hiring is equitable, our culture diverse, and our work practices inclusive across the organization.