National Leadership Program, Fall 2023
Noa Porten
Noa Porten (she/her) was an Entertainment and News Media Fellow in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for Fall 2023. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.
Porten’s love for storytelling began at a young age when she was introduced to dance and musical theater. That love for storytelling has interwoven with disability advocacy after her lived experiences with chronic illness led her to found and host Spooning with Spoonies, a podcast highlighting chronically ill and disability love and dating stories. Developing Spooning with Spoonies empowered Porten to pursue a career working at the intersection of business and entertainment to tell and amplify authentic stories and connect audiences to content that they can see themselves and their stories reflected in.
Porten is currently a senior Interdisciplinary Studies major at Arizona State University, concentrating in Business and Film and Media Studies. In addition to developing and marketing Spooning with Spoonies, Porten was the Community Manager intern for Chronically Capable where she managed a marketing communications campaign for National Disability Employment Awareness Month and co-developed and launched an inclusive dance film featuring disabled dancers for the Kate Stanforth Academy of Dance.
Outside of work and school, Porten enjoys saying “hi” to every dog (who’s not working, of course) out on the trails in Austin, Texas; TV show marathons; being a podcast nerd; mindfulness; and dance classes. Porten also freelances as a dance and mindfulness teacher with a focus on accessibility and inclusion.
