Where Narrative and Culture Build Power: Findings from the 2024-25 Narrative Innovators Lab

by Chrystian Rodriguez, Training and Partner Engagement Manager, The Opportunity Agenda

For years, we’ve known we need new strategies to achieve a successful, sustained narrative shift that champions a multiracial democracy—and just as importantly, new spaces to incubate them. Strategies rooted in shared values, collective care, and an irresistible vision of a just, inclusive democracy are what drives our work. As attacks on our communities escalate, the urgency grows. We’re watching as hateful narratives attempt to dismantle institutions, police identity and culture, deepen division, and limit freedoms. Now more than ever, we need to acknowledge that narrative strategy and cultural strategy go hand in hand. Culture is where narrative lives—you can’t have one without the other.

That’s where the Narrative Innovators Lab (NIL) comes in. Now in its second year, the NIL is a cornerstone of The Opportunity Agenda’s work in narrative and cultural strategy. It’s a space where artists, communicators, and cultural strategists come together to build shared vision, spark new ideas, and strengthen strategies rooted in practice. This isn’t just about training—it’s about advancing an all-embracing society where every person has the power to shape the decisions that affect their lives.

The lab joins two cohorts—the Communications Institute and the Culture & Narrative Fellowship through in-person gatherings and remote sessions to engage advocates, artists, and strategists in facilitated learning, creative exchange, and experimentation. The beating heart of the NIL wasn’t a curriculum—it was the relationships. From our first week-long gathering in August 2024 to the closing convening in March 2025, the power of being in community across issues and mediums was undeniable. Sharing meals. Holding each other through joy and exhaustion. Trust was built not just in Zoom rooms, but in the late-night conversations and text threads that carried us between sessions.

We grounded our work in a shared narrative strategy framework and spotlighted voices across sectors—from artists like Adama Delphine Fawundu to organizers at the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC). Guest speakers such as Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Caron Atlas, and Elena Ketelsen González deepened our conversations with insights into art and advocacy as social practice. Together, they offered powerful examples of narrative-forward cultural interventions—from reclaiming the story of Brooklyn’s Lefferts House to shifting public understanding of immigrant communities and their aspirations.

Over the course of the six-month Fellowship, the Fellows developed bold, experimental projects to move their communities closer to justice. Here are a few examples:

• Anthony Baber (Detroit Action), Melva Steps (Fair Count), and Ariana Busby (RadComms) are exploring the power of block parties and zines to deepen civic engagement and encourage diverse participation in the census—connecting cultural joy to democratic action.
• Miriam Alarcón Avila, a multidisciplinary artist in Iowa, is producing a photo and documentary series that interviews undocumented immigrants behind a sheet of ice— literally and figuratively. As the “ICE” melts, so does the distance between viewer and subject, revealing the warmth, beauty, and humanity of community.
• Ali Sultan is a Yemeni-Ethiopian comedian filming a documentary about the power of stand-up comedy to spark honest dialogue across divides—moving audiences to deeper connection and empathy.
• Enni Aigbomian (Independence Public Media) is developing a strategic outreach plan to increase regional philanthropic support for community media and movement-led storytelling—building the infrastructure needed to sustain narrative change long-term.

As we close this chapter, we’re carrying the work forward. The relationships built here are already sparking new projects and collaborations. The tools we shared are exercising the muscle needed for long term vision. The NIL is more than a program—it’s a commitment to what’s possible when we bring narrative and cultural strategies together in service of liberation.

Stay connected for updates on our Fellows’ projects and the next iteration of the Narrative Innovators Lab. Together, we’re not just imagining what’s possible—we’re building it.