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Stories About Changemakers

Stories illustrate what's possible when people come together to create positive change in their community. We feature stories from a wide range of issues, geographic areas, and demographics. You'll also find stories in a variety of formats including interviews, community profiles, videos, podcasts, and more.

Scroll down to start getting inspired, or jump to a section on this page:

Stories of Change  |  Community Profiles |  Community Notes

Stories on Specific Issue Areas  |  Printable Story Handouts

Stories of Change

These timeless stories showcase how people have come together to create more equitable, inclusive communities. The wide range of issues and types of communities featured illustrates how dialogue and action can be used in many situations. Building strong communities is an ongoing process, and many of these communities continue to use dialogue and action to address issues they're facing.

 

Creating healthy neighborhoods through action and policy change
New York City residents are taking action to address concerns about food and health disparities. Four action teams are connecting residents with elected officials and local businesses, educating the...
Removing racial and ethnic barriers to student achievement
In Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, students, teachers, and staff have participated in dialogues to help find ways to address racial barriers to student achievement for over a decade....
Creating racial equity in education, policing, and leadership
When racial tensions rose to a tipping point in Stratford, Conn., the city used this as a springboard to improve community-police relations. Now, nearly a decade later, they see many results of their...
The path to a unified community
After using dialogue to address poverty and build prosperity, residents of the rural town of Wagner, S.D., realized that there was something holding them back from making real progress: they needed...
Inspired residents shape their own future
We all want a better future for our children. What does it look like when residents come together in dialogues to create change? Learn about how a group of residents are creating a healthier, safer...
Connecting people to each other and the city
City commissioners in Decatur, Ga., launched a major effort to recruit residents to decide how to build a sense of community and to find common ground for solving community conflicts. Since then,...

Community Notes

This section showcases the latest of what's happening in communities that use dialogue and action to create change. You'll find a variety of content including podcasts, short stories, interviews, videos, and more.

 

How talking about mental health can inspire people to take action
Listen to how Text, Talk Act, is taking the pain we have experienced around mental health and turning it into a healing process. The talk around mental health is personal, powerful, and raw, and...
The power of talking with each other about mental health
We all carry hopes, fears, and worries inside of us, and there’s only one way to get such things out. Text, Talk Act, is striving to foster an accepting environment where we can talk about the things...
Transforming mental health conversations with text messages
Text, Talk, Act, is aiming to break this silence and cultivate a conversation around mental health. In part one of this podcast series, several organizers share their reflections on the state of...
Community engagement brings a spark to city revitalization efforts
Neglected properties, over-occupied homes, and public safety concerns were a few of the issues residents of the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pa., wanted to address in their new master plan. In...
Reflections on including the word 'racism' in the title of your change effort
When you're naming your community change effort, you may have some difficult decisions to make, especially if you're addressing racism. Should you include the word "racism" in the name? Will it turn...
What it takes to create sustainable change
Anyone doing community change work wants to make a lasting impact. It can be difficult to find a way to make dialogue and action integral to the way the community works. In Wagner, S.D., residents...

 

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Printable Handouts

Many of our stories also include a printable handout to make it easy for you to share these stories at community meetings, with your board, at conferences, with funders, and more. Just scroll down on any story in this section to find a PDF version available to download and print.

Check out this section to find all of the stories that include printable handouts in one place.