The Power of Participatory Storytelling in Building a Healthier North Carolina

How can funders build trust with communities while countering racial equity backlash and centering community voices in evaluation? How can storytelling be used to redistribute decision-making and drive equity-informed social change? Through the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation’s Community-Centered Health initiative, participatory storytelling methods supported grantees in challenging harmful narratives and shaping strategy. This session will explore how storytelling serves as a rigorous tool for learning, strategy development, and community-driven evaluation.

Quick-Start Guide to Participatory Storytelling: During the session, we will share tips and tools to implement storytelling projects that can enhance equity-focused evaluation and learning practices within your own work. Every community and project are unique, so we offer these ideas as suggestions that you should feel free to adapt to meet the needs and context of your individual project.