Story

01 Sep Story

LEAH LAMB

There is a saying that sometimes we need a story more than food in order to live. We live in interesting times, and we are sorely in need of making meaning of it all. And by that I mean, we need stories, but not just any story. We need responsible storytelling. We need stories that fuel and feed us with potential and possibility of great things to come, that inspire and activate the best within us, and remind us that we are capable of being heroes of the movie we are starring in.

Perhaps, less well understood is the fact that we need all of the stories about people who are working on the solutions. Listening is key. Not blind listening. We’re living in a moment in time when stories that have been hidden from our view are being surfaced…and it requires a kind of listening that we may not be accustomed to…generous listening. We need to know how to listen through the noise and roar of fear; we need to listen to the stories of our neighbors, the people standing beside us at the crosswalk, to the people who look extremely different from us, and to our own hearts. And we require radical listening… to what our inner genius is telling us about what we are here to express and give to the collective.

While it may not be obvious, one of the most exciting new vehicles available to us today is crowdsourcing. We believe this can be a powerful means of building a community that sustainably supports our work and vision for years to come. Crowdfunding has revolutionized our capacity to organize the flow of our resources to what we want to see manifest in the world. Despite all the huge success stories, running a crowdfunding campaign requires a lot of sweat, Excel spreadsheets, and behind the scene strategy. It’s an art and a science, and as we execute on our plans to build communities that increase awareness of our stories and motivate audiences to action, we see crowdfunding playing an increasingly powerful role.