About Pier Consulting Group
Our History
Criscillia Benford and Anna Marie Trester are the co-founders of Pier Consulting Group, a boutique consulting agency that helps organizations leverage internal communications to improve employee experience and increase employee engagement. Criscillia studied narratology, rhetoric, and Victorian Literature at Stanford where she received her PhD. She has been helping people hone their communication skills for over 20 years, and has taught literature and humanities courses at the University of Chicago, Duke, and Stanford. Anna Marie studied sociolinguistics at Georgetown where she earned her PhD. The author of Bringing Linguistics to Work, Anna Marie has taught courses in improvisation, storytelling, and linguistics at a variety of institutions including Howard, Georgetown, Washington Improv Theater, and Better Said Than Done.
Our Mission
We believe that stories are powerful tools that can be used to build relationships, create change, and drive innovation. We use our expertise in applied narratology, narrative inquiry, and inclusive communication to help companies communicate more effectively with their employees, customers, and stakeholders.
We believe that everyone's story matters, and we are committed to using our skills to help create a more inclusive and equitable world.
Our mission is to:
- Help companies understand the power of stories and how to use them to communicate effectively.
- Collect and analyze stories from employees, customers, and stakeholders to identify challenges and opportunities for improvement.
- Create inclusive marketing materials, policies, and procedures that reflect the diversity of our clients' audiences.
- Consult with companies on how to design their workplaces in a way that is inclusive of all people.
We believe that by using our skills and expertise, we can help create a more inclusive and equitable world where everyone's story matters.
Meet The team
Anna Marie Trester, Ph.D.
Anna Marie Trester, Ph.D.
Anna Marie Trester, Ph.D.
My research and consulting work centers on story, with particular focus on story listening.
As the author of Bringing Linguistics to Work and Employing Linguistics (Bloomsbury Press), I speak and give workshops as Career Linguist and with organizational partners PIER Consulting Group, The FrameWorks Institute, and Anecdote International.
My research and consulting work centers on story, with particular focus on story listening.
As the author of Bringing Linguistics to Work and Employing Linguistics (Bloomsbury Press), I speak and give workshops as Career Linguist and with organizational partners PIER Consulting Group, The FrameWorks Institute, and Anecdote International.
Skills: Narrative, Storytelling, Consulting, Training and Facilitation, Ethnography, Quantitative and Qualitative research, Curriculum Design, Instructional Technology, Language, Culture, Cross-Cultural Communication, Applied Communication Strategy, Social Media.
Criscillia Benford, Ph.D.
Anna Marie Trester, Ph.D.
Anna Marie Trester, Ph.D.
I am a former academic, media theorist, and communications consultant who is committed to building a more just world. I am currently writing a book about technology and relationships.
I have presented research findings to expert and non-expert audiences in a variety of contexts, and designed and taught courses in World Literature, the Hum
I am a former academic, media theorist, and communications consultant who is committed to building a more just world. I am currently writing a book about technology and relationships.
I have presented research findings to expert and non-expert audiences in a variety of contexts, and designed and taught courses in World Literature, the Humanities, Victorian Literature, Writing & Research, and Workplace Conversations at The University of Chicago, Duke, Stanford, and Stanford's Continuing Studies program.
My peer-reviewed research in the fields of Narratology, Neuroscience, and Victorian Literature has been published by The Ohio State University Press, MIT University Press, and Yale University Press.
