July 1, 2026
At Root Change, we support communities working through some of the defining challenges of our time: rising authoritarianism, political polarization, economic insecurity, technological disruption, climate-related disasters, and the growing fragmentation of the international aid and civil society sector.
But in today’s crowded digital landscape, doing meaningful work is only part of the challenge. We also have to think carefully about how we share that work. How do we communicate complex realities in ways that are clear, accessible, and compelling? How do we share learning back with communities, make it useful to partners and practitioners, and help broader audiences connect with the work in human and actionable ways?
These questions have led us to explore digital storytelling as a core part of our approach.
Over the past several years, we’ve experimented with a range of storytelling formats across programs and countries, including short documentary videos, podcasts, interactive learning products, visual storytelling, case studies, and multimedia knowledge platforms. We’ve found that digital storytelling can often communicate emotion, nuance, and lived experience in ways that traditional written reports alone cannot.
Some of our Digital Storytelling Work
As part of our Community Independence Initiative (CII) work in Zomba, Malawi, we produced a short film highlighting the work being designed and led by families in the community.
In collaboration with The Carter Center, we supported an initiative to reduce political polarization and violence through community-driven strategies, and here too we turned to video to capture the diverse groups coming together to develop locally-based solutions that could only be fully understood through the stories themselves.
One of our largest digital storytelling efforts came out of a convening we hosted in Accra, Ghana last year, where we brought together community leaders, organizers, practitioners, and movement builders from around the world to strengthen an international network focused on community power and resilience. Together, participants explored questions like:
- How do we build stronger movements during periods of uncertainty?
- How do communities sustain hope and solidarity during political and economic strain?
- How do we share practical tools, lessons, and strategies across contexts?
During the convening, we filmed 34 podcast episodes and panel discussions featuring practitioners working across democracy, economic justice, civic participation, and community resilience. This work became the foundation for the Community Power Studio, a YouTube channel and learning platform designed not simply to document the convening, but to create space for local community leaders to share stories, tools, and practical insights from the field in their own voices.
What made the Community Power Studio different was the way it surfaced realities from communities around the world, while also showing how deeply connected many of those realities are. Leaders working in different countries and contexts were able to name shared challenges, recognize common patterns, exchange lessons, and see how their local struggles were part of something larger. The goal was not only to share stories outward, but to create material that leaders could bring back to their own communities as a source of reflection, learning, connection, and collective strength.
Why This Matters
We believe storytelling is not separate from systems change work — it is part of the infrastructure that helps movements learn, connect, adapt, and grow.
Stories can:
- help communities see their own strengths reflected back to them,
- make complex work more understandable,
- preserve movement memory and learning,
- build solidarity across contexts,
- and create entry points for new audiences to engage.
At a time when organizations face shrinking attention spans, fractured information ecosystems, and growing competition for visibility and resources, thoughtful storytelling matters more than ever.
Our next phase is to continue expanding the tools, knowledge, and behind-the-scenes learning we share publicly. We believe there is tremendous value in helping practitioners and communities not only see polished outcomes, but also better understand the collaborative, adaptive, and often messy processes behind meaningful social change.
Learn more about our work and our approach to Digital Storytelling at www.rootchange.org
