If we are to make the bold changes our country and our times demand, Americans must understand and embrace our values and our core beliefs about creating a just society. Narrative is fundamental to making the cultural change that is essential for social and political change.
Mission – The mission of Our Story – The Hub for American Narratives is to support and develop the capacity among progressive organizations and leaders for powerful, values-based communication on core American beliefs.
What we do – Narrative should be a core capacity in every endeavor to make change. We can help you develop that capacity:
- Develop a powerful narrative on your mission and issues.
- Access and understand existing narratives on the issues you work on.
- Training for organizations and elected officials on using powerful narratives.
- Consulting support for using narratives in your work.
- Work with partners in your state to develop a shared progressive narrative for your state.
- Work with training centers on how to incorporate narrative training into your curriculum.
- Bring you into a community who share your passion for powerful, value-based communications.
- Contact us to find out more about how Our Story can help you develop your narrative capacity.
Who we work with – At Our Story, we work with a broad array of progressive organizations and leaders, including: community organizations, constituency groups, issue campaigns, elected officials, labor unions, think tanks, communications groups, state narrative projects and public opinion researchers. Our Story operated as a fiscally sponsored project of Proteus Fund from 2016 to 2020.
Who we are – The Our Story Advisory Committee forms a learning community to develop and strengthen powerful values-values based communication.
Richard Kirsch, Director:
Richard Kirsch combines a wealth of experience in developing and communicating narrative with an outstanding record of accomplishment leading national and state efforts to win social change. Mr. Kirsch is the Director of Our Story, – The Hub for American Narratives. Our story, which was founded in 2016, is working to support and develop the capacity among the progressive infrastructure for powerful, values based communication on core American beliefs.
Mr. Kirsch was the National Campaign Manager of Health Care for America Now from the Campaign’s founding to its successful conclusion in April 2010. HCAN was an 1,100 member coalition, led by major progressive organizations, that deployed staff in 44 states and spent $47 million to organize for comprehensive health care reform. As HCAN’s chief spokesperson, Mr. Kirsch appeared on PBS’s The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, ABC’s World News Tonight and Good Morning America, Fox, CSPAN, and the Colbert Report and was frequently quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and other national newspapers, as well as NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace.
He told the story of this historic effort in Fighting for Our Health: The Epic Battle to Make Health Care a Right in the United States, published in February 2012 by the Rockefeller Institute Press.
Mr. Kirsch was a Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute from 2010 through 2016, where he helped lead the project on The Future of Work, reimagining labor law for the new economy. He served as Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York, a grassroots citizen’s organization with 20,000 members and seven offices in New York, from 1985 through 2008.
Kirsch has received awards for his consumer advocacy work. He was honored with the Progressive Leadership Award by USAction and the New York Progressive Leadership Award by Citizen Action of New York, both in 2010. Mr. Kirsch was honored by Families USA in January 2001 as national Health Care Consumer Advocate of the Year.
Mr. Kirsch received a B.A. with honors from Brown University in 1974 and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1980.