Stories of Social Change.

Participatory storytelling for organisations working in development, charities, and social enterprises

The idea

Organisations working for social change are constantly asked to demonstrate impact. Most often, this is done through indicators, targets, and evaluation reports. But change is not only numerical. It is often subtle, relational, and layered. It can look like a shift in confidence, a new opportunity, a decision made differently, an unintended consequence that reveals something new.

Stories of Social Change is a participatory approach that helps organisations understand, document, and articulate the impact of their work through the voices of the people they aim to support. It complements MEL and evaluation processes by adding depth, reflection, and lived experience.

What we offer

We design and deliver bespoke storytelling and change workshops, in person or virtually, tailored to each organisation’s context.

Through these workshops, we help participants:

• Become sensitised to change — noticing small shifts, unintended outcomes, and ripple effects beyond project outputs.

• Move beyond simple “before and after” narratives to explore the process — what shifted, how it shifted, and what enabled that transformation.

•  Engage communities in defining what change means to them, rather than imposing external definitions of success.

• Apply a systems thinking lens — understanding how individual stories connect to wider structures, power dynamics, policies, and community ecosystems.

• Write and shape their own first-person stories — grounded, reflective narratives that capture both progress and ongoing challenges.

• Support participants to reflect on the “so what” — why this change matters for individuals, families, communities and the organisation

Why it matters

Authentic, story-first narratives strengthen the way organisations communicate impact. They humanise data, deepen accountability, and offer richer insight into what is working and where gaps remain.

Stories of Social Change is not about producing polished success stories. It is about creating space for honest reflection, agency, and complexity. These narratives can accompany impact reports, strengthen donor engagement, support advocacy, and build internal learning cultures.

How we work

We work both with organisations internally — building staff capacity to facilitate storytelling processes ethically and directly with communities and programme participants.

Each engagement includes customised workshop design, practical storytelling exercises, ethical guidance, and structured templates and tools. Our aim is sustainability: organisations leave with the frameworks and confidence to continue this work long after the training.

Format

Workshops can be delivered as one- to three-day in-person sessions, virtual series, or blended formats. We also offer follow-up mentoring and editorial support where needed.