It’s been 3 years since I founded my communications agency for advocacy and campaigns, so naturally, I transformed our mission to fit our evolution!
I am an insatiable learner and explorer. It’s why I love the work! I love digging into an issue to understand how we got here and what we can do to change things for good. Since I created this organization in 2020, it has taken on many shapes, but it’s always been rooted in the idea that messaging can be a vehicle for change.
Part of my journey this year has been flexing my storytelling muscles. I’m still writing campaign emails, non-profit op-eds, and more for advocacy organizations, but I’m also writing for myself. I’ve written social justice comics, sci-fi journeys set in a futuristic San Francisco, and reflections on my own childhood and journey to activism.
Through this journey back to my writing self, I’ve also recognized even more how crucial storytelling is to movement building. For social justice activists to shape change, we must shape culture which begins with connection and storytelling.
That’s why I’m excited to unveil the new Roots of Change website and tagline: “Storytelling for Social Change!”
🌱 Our Mission 🌱
Roots of Change was founded to use storytelling to build human connections that lead to lasting social change.
We can use storytelling to move our culture away from the rotted roots of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy and toward new soil that is focused on community, empathy, and sustainability.
Our Theory of Change
At Roots of Change, we believe that social change comes from uprooting the unhealthy soil of our past and cultivating new soil that will allow all of us to grow in healthy, sustainable, and equitable ways.
Storytelling is our tool.
Storytelling deepens connection and belonging, which allows cultures to become more empathetic and open to change. Cultural change opens the door for lasting social change. We’re here to help you tell stories. To tell the stories that matter.
Old Rotted Roots
Our society and institutions were built on top of the unhealthy soil of, as bell hooks refer to it, White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy.
The roots, or social conditions, are unable to flourish in spoiled dirt. Policies, legislation, and social norms will continue to reinforce the systems beneath the roots if we do not cultivate healthier soil.
Messaging sits at the base of the tree because it plays the outward-facing role of reinforcing the unhealthy systems below it. Modern marketing is about manipulation, accumulation, and the status quo. It reinforces old narratives that are no longer true or healthy.
Our Tools
We need deeper cultural change to make it easier to transition to a new future. Without shifting culture, progressive actions will not have lasting impacts.
Storytelling is how we shift the narrative, then the culture. Humans are social and visual creatures. Our brains are most likely to understand complex concepts more easily through storytelling.
As Audre Lorde’s famous quote puts it, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”
We cannot reach an equitable society with the old ways. We must create new traditions, language, and practices if we are to create a new world. This work is both personal and collective. It’s up to each of us to shift our mindsets into the world that we want.
New Soil
Tending to new soil asks us to intentionally build new systems with community, equity, and sustainability at their core.
This starts with our own personal and collective growth. Capitalism has given growth a bad name, but not all growth is about extraction and exploitation. We all live and breathe the old rotted roots, which requires us to examine old norms, understand our role and unconscious limitations, and intentionally support our personal growth.
By dismantling the illusions of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, we create the roots of the new system. We can shift to community-based care rather than toxic individualism. We can recognize the universal benefits of an equity-based approach. Finally, we can build sustainability into all that we do, including how we treat ourselves and our bodies.
Our work is to build a world that has never fully been realized, which is why imagination, creativity, and joy are crucial. Stories illuminate what is often hidden about the harmful systems and help bring everyone along. Healthy soil opens up new ways of living.
Have a look at the new site and let us know what you think!
What is Roots of Change?
We are a storytelling agency founded to support nonprofits, campaigns, and activists tell empathetic stories that cultivate connection to empower societal change.
We do that by:
🧰 Sharing free and affordable templates, guides, & tools
📝 Sending a weekly newsletter to explore the roots of our world
🧮 Offering affordable messaging and digital audits
📖 Consulting with changemakers to develop their storytelling
Here’s to cultivating a better world! 🌍