Stories of Change: Unlocking the Imagination

The Stories of Change initiative, now into its second decade, connects independent storytellers with social entrepreneurs. It fosters the enhancement of story skills and networks between these communities and supports creation and impact distribution of compelling films about solutions to urgent social issues.

Over the course of this ten-year partnership with the Sundance Institute, we’ve worked with 90 filmmakers and 90 social entrepreneur organizations, curated 35 gatherings, and developed a portfolio of 49 storytelling projects. Those projects include major feature-length films, shorts, animation, and virtual/mixed reality with broad range of impact.

We’ve learned that effective collaborations requires common values, mutual trust, and clear alignment upfront—stories evolve, and it can be difficult to navigate without that foundation. Social entrepreneurs learn to cede some element of control and let the artist craft a story that will resonate with audiences. Likewise, filmmakers have come to understand and respect the ability of the social entrepreneur to transform lives on the ground. Together, they are a powerful force for change in a world that too often resonates with negative messages.

Stories of Change is a partnership of partnerships. Skoll and Sundance have had to grow and evolve over the years much like the filmmakers and social entrepreneurs. Going forward, the initiative intends to focus on cultivating more regional partnerships between filmmakers and social entrepreneurs, to increase digital access to storytelling and partnership resources, and to help more projects get across the finish line to generate the most impact.

More broadly, we’re grateful to be part of a wave of funders and makers who understand the potential of narrative storytelling and the importance of harnessing the power of artists to lead change and the capacity of social entrepreneurs to make it real.

For a deeper dive into the evolution of the Stories of Change initiative and discussion of some of most successful projects, check out this piece.