narrative innovators lab

NIL

The Opportunity Agenda’s Narrative Innovators Lab brings together communicators, thought leaders, and creatives to dream and devise narrative and cultural interventions that move us toward justice, equity, and opportunity for all.

The Narrative Innovators Lab

The Opportunity Agenda’s vision is a multiracial society where every person has the power to shape the decisions that impact their lives. The Narrative Innovators Lab moves us toward this vision.

As the new, shared home for our signature programs, the Lab brings together communicators, thought leaders, artists, and creatives for high-level multi-disciplinary training, experiential learning, and radical collaboration using the latest research from the field. Through the Lab, we are creating a class of leaders from across the social justice spectrum who will learn new narrative and cultural strategy skills and will work to create innovative narrative and cultural interventions. Together, we can build a more inclusive democracy.

The Narrative Innovators Lab objectives are to:  

  • Create narrative and cultural power-building innovations to overcome white supremacy and build a multiracial society where every person has the power to shape the decisions that impact their lives  
  • Provide high level multi-disciplinary training and experiences in narrative and cultural power-building strategies.  
  • Create a community of practice to enable participants to strategize collaboratively and provide ongoing support to one another. 

The Lab will provide practitioners with a shared curriculum of learning and experiences to leverage the best thinking in the fields of communications, narrative, and cultural strategies. A community of practice, our carefully curated cohorts will enable participants to build bonds, champion one another, and provide support over the long run.

This is what democracy should look like.

of the people, by the people, for the people

2023 Comms Institute Fellows

Brittany Cheatham is a strategic communicator focused on using storytelling and narrative change... Read more

Brittany Cheatham

Sarah Harris is the Deputy Communications Director and Press Secretary at Stand Up... Read more

Sarah Harris

Myaisha is the Campaign Strategies Director at MediaJustice. She previously spent two years... Read more

Myaisha Hayes

Jasmine Heiss leads the Vera Institute of Justice’s national work to reduce jail... Read more

Jasmine Heiss

Laura A. Hughes, Director of Narrative Strategies at PolicyLink, is a curious learner,... Read more

Laura A. Hughes

Sol is a trans immigrant from Mexico City, a first-generation DACA recipient, and... Read more

Sol Jiménez

Erica Johnson has been working for positive changes in immigration policy at the... Read more

Erica Johnson

Qainat Khan is a communications strategist with the national ACLU, working on communications... Read more

Qainat Khan

Valerie Kiebala is a radical feminist writer, organizer, and artist centering relationships and... Read more

Valerie Kiebala

Priscilla Olivarez is a Policy Attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)... Read more

Priscilla Olivarez

Stevie Paz was born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico, about 100... Read more

Stevie Paz

Mandy Culbertson, Senior Director of Communications at Caring Across Generations, loves shaping narratives... Read more

Mandy Stark Culbertson

Stephanie is the Director of Climate Justice and Migration at the National Partnership... Read more

Stephanie Teatro

Alice Tianyi Liu is a Houston-based writer and organizer working in disaster recovery... Read more

Alice Tianyi Liu

Known as "The Face of Dignity For Incarcerated Women", Pamela Winn is an... Read more

Pamela Winn

2023 Culture & Narrative Fellows

Adamu Chan is a filmmaker, writer, and community organizer from the Bay Area... Read more

Adamu Chan

Marcos Echeverría Ortiz is an award-winning interdisciplinary journalist, photographer, and documentary maker practicing... Read more

Marcos Echeverria Ortiz

Salomé Egas is proudly Ecuadorian, and an interdisciplinary performer, arts educator and children’s... Read more

Salomé Egas

Jesse Krimes is an artist whose work explores societal mechanisms of power and... Read more

Jesse Krimes

Jessica Valoris is a multidisciplinary artist and community facilitator. Through ritual performance, sound... Read more

Jessica Valoris

Monique Verdin is a transdisciplinary storyteller, citizen of the Houma Nation and director... Read more

Monique Verdin

Ixchel is a co-founder of the socially engaged art collective, Las Imaginistas, and is... Read more

Ixchel Tonāntzin Xōchitlzihuatl

@oppagenda We define the culture, and we can use it to create a better world for our communities! 🌻 Our Narrative Innovators Lab brings diverse creatives, communicators, and change makers together to win the pressing narrative and cultural battles of our times. Featuring Communications Institute 2023 Fellow Brittany Cheatham, Senior Communications Manager at Forward Justice #narrative #communications #socialjustice ♬ original sound – The Opportunity Agenda

See the Experience

Take a peek inside the Lab and our Fellows!

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