About Charlene Pell
Award-winning author Charlene Pell is founder and executive director of Facing Forward, a nonprofit helping individuals with facial or physical differences navigate social interactions and communicate confidently. After surviving a catastrophic plane crash thirty-one years ago that burned 64 percent of her body and severely injured her face and hands, Pell created programs and resources to help herself and others adjust to changed appearances.
Since 1998, she has been a keynote speaker at conferences for burn survivors and healthcare professionals, developing her nationwide program “What to Do When People Stare.” Her work has been published in “Psychology Today,” the “Journal of Burn Care & Research,” and other publications. She holds a master’s in communication studies from UNC Greensboro and lives in North Carolina with her husband.