CHANGE STARTS
WITH YOUR STORY

Storytelling workshops, online courses & consulting services to amplify your impact.


“The stories we tell can build an empathetic, inclusive and equitable world.” - Luis Ortega

 

We offer self-paced and cohort-based online storytelling courses for changemakers, organizations, educators, facilitators, and youth. All courses are designed to equip you with the skills and tools you need to amplify your impact through storytelling.

Online Courses

Our workshops and facilitation services are ideal for teams and organizations seeking empowering, engaging, and impactful learning and storytelling experiences. All workshops are experiential, informed by a racial equity framework, and employ a human-centered approach.

Workshops & Facilitation

Luis, founder and director at Storytellers for Change, inspires audiences with a heartfelt message about the power of narratives to foster empathy and build inclusive and equitable communities. Luis’ message is grounded on storytelling as a practice of freedom.

Speaking

We employ our Story-Centered impact model to help organizations to harness the power of narrative to deliver impact. We’ve designed and managed collaboratives, launched leadership programs, and curated exhibitions and narrative change efforts.

Consulting

In Action

Since 2010, Storytellers for Change has worked with thousands of youth, educators, and social impact professionals worldwide to create positive change. We have facilitated hundredths of workshops and retreats, launched leadership and education programs, curated exhibitions, and co-crafted narrative strategies and campaigns for organizations.

Testimonies & Impact

  • We’ve worked with 100+ cross-sector organizations to amplify their impact through storytelling workshops and consulting services.

    “DAISA Enterprises engaged Storytellers for Change in October 2019 to facilitate a storytelling workshop to a group of approximately 100 nonprofit/community leaders, and national philanthropic partners. Workshop participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 95% of evaluation respondents rating the session "excellent" or "good." DAISA recommends Storytellers for Change!”

    — DAISA Enterprises

  • We’ve engaged and facilitated storytelling and leadership workshops for 14,000+ cross-sector leaders.

    “I highly recommend Storytellers for Change to anyone who needs to tell a story. Their methods come straight from the heart, but with a laser-like precision to help each person pinpoint the particular levers and emotions they need to access to tell their own story. ”

    — Sarah Westlake, Managing Editor @ ArtPlace America

  • Since 2010, we’ve reached 16,000+ youth through our workshops, conferences, programs, and speaking engagements.

    “The space Storytellers for Change graciously created for and with us was so needed and valued. It was amazing to see our students and educators unfold and light up at different points in the Story Circle and we could tell they were engaged, moved, and appreciative to learn more about each other's unique and powerful stories. ”

    — Molly Pencke, Program Manager @ Bezos Scholars Program

  • Our educator workshops, projects, and speaking engagements have reached 10,000+ educators (K-12, higher education, and youth development professionals).

    “I highly recommend Luis Ortega and his organization Storytellers for Change. I would hire Luis in a heartbeat and recommend Luis as a facilitator or speaker to anyone looking for an engaging storyteller, adaptive facilitator, and model change maker. ”

    — Roseann London, Director of the Gear Up Educator Development Initiative

We would 100% recommend working with Storytellers for Change! We had such a great experience with Luis and his team, from communication to scheduling the sessions themselves, our experience was overwhelmingly positive and made an impact on our participants.
— Education First
I recommend working with Luis and Storytellers for Change to any organization or group that engages in social change storytelling. In our health and social care field, too often, storytelling can become exploitative and extractive. It was extremely refreshing to work with storytelling experts like Storytellers for Change, who take a strength-based and human-centered approach.
— Evelyne Kaine, Senior Program Manager @ Camden Coalition
Storytellers for Change has been an incredible partner in helping us think through narrative strategy in the community development sector. Their approach drew from some really rich frameworks to help us build common language and common understanding around what we’re seeing and how we want to move forward in our narrative work. Equally importantly, they were extraordinarily helpful in making sure we didn’t get stuck in a theoretical space. Their strong facilitation enabled us to move toward concrete actions that will actually have an impact on the ground, without shortchanging the process of developing group understanding and a collective vision.
— Seth Beattie, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives @ ThirdSpace Action Lab
I loved the depth of knowledge that Luis and Storytellers for Change bring in terms of the role storytelling plays in our lives at all levels, the personal, relational, and systemic levels. I would recommend Storytellers for Change to anyone and everyone!
— Nubia Lopez, Co-Executive Director @ Pathwaves WA
Storytellers for Change facilitated an incredible storytelling workshop for my group of BIPOC professionals working in the Jewish community. Participants had the opportunity to reflect on their experiences and values and transform them into a story. I look forward to integrating what I learned for an upcoming presentation to prospective funders. I was nervous about it, but after taking this workshop, I feel more confident.
— Bekka Scharf, Project Shamash Program Manager @ Bend the Arc
Luis Ortega of Storytellers for Change brought our Member Retreat event to life. Luis was an excellent planning partner in thinking through not just the content of his workshops but going above and beyond to ensure the whole event experience would foster an authentic environment for learning and connection. During the Member Retreat, Luis led workshops exploring concepts such as identifying dominant narratives, asset-based storytelling, concealed and resistance stories, and transforming stories. Our members are still talking about Luis’ fantastic facilitation and the learning and exploration that happened in these sessions.
— JulieAnne Behar, Senior Manager @ Philanthropy Northwest
  • Say hello, storytellers! We look forward to hearing from you.

  • Learn how to identify, craft, and share your story to inspire action.

  • Join a community of social impact storytellers and changemakers.

  • A just storytelling process enables us to imagine, craft and share equitable stories.

About Us

We are a collective of multidisciplinary storytellers, facilitators, and consultants united by one purpose: to build an empathetic, inclusive, and equitable world through storytelling. We are a consultancy with expertise in racial equity-centered storytelling, facilitation, participatory community engagement, narrative strategy, and leadership development.

 

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the land on which our work started as the traditional home of the Duwamish and Coast Salish people. We take this opportunity to thank the original stewards and storytellers of this land who are still here. It is our collective responsibility to raise the visibility of Indigenous communities and in this process heal our stories and memory.