Storytelling Workshops for the School of Systems Change
ROLE
Workshop Designer & Facilitator
CLIENT
YEAR
School of Systems Change
2024–2025
summary
Practitioner workshops on the art & ethics of systems storytelling, developed for a global audience of changemakers, communicators, and evaluators.
In 2024, I developed a Seedling Series workshop, Storytelling for Systems Change, for the School of Systems Change focused on the question at the heart of my practice: how can we tell ethical stories that show how change actually happens?
The two-hour workshop gave participants a shared language for key concepts (story, narrative, story-holder), an analysis of why linear, single-hero storylines fall short of what systems change requires, and a set of ethical, systems-based principles and practices for telling more nuanced stories of social change. The session was designed for systems and MEL practitioners who wanted to incorporate story in their work.
Demand for the session exceeded capacity in September 2024, prompting the School to offer two additional sessions in October and November. The following year, that interest contributed to the School's development of a four-month Story, Narrative and Systems Learning & Practice Series—a deeper exploration of the terrain the Seedling Series session had opened. I contributed to the early framing and scope of the Learning & Practice Series and co-facilitated the third session, Storytelling in Practice.
key contributions
01
Designed and facilitated three Storytelling for Systems Change workshops for the Seedling Series (Sept–Nov, 2024), including learning outcomes, activities, and ethical, systems-based storytelling frameworks drawn from and grounded in my own practice
02
Contributed to the framing and scope of the School's 2025 Story, Narrative and Systems Learning & Practice Series, and co-facilitated the third session, Storytelling in Practice
impact
The Storytelling for Systems Change workshop reached 50+ practitioners across 16+ countries, an international community of evaluators, communicators, funders, facilitators, and researchers grappling with how to bring more nuance and systems awareness to their storytelling practice.
Related links
Testimonial
“I thought the session was beautifully facilitated with lots of care and it really inspired me!”
— Daniela Cabral, School of Systems Change Seedling Series participant