Shifting Narrative Change into High Gear

As narrative change approaches gain ground in philanthropy and advocacy circles, many questions remain about the strategy. Our recent learning project, in collaboration with the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), begins to answer some of these questions.

Narrative change refers to strategies that harness the power of narratives — in entertainment, in news, in movement spaces, and in the broader culture — to shift public mindsets and generate culture change toward equity and justice. Based on several sources of evidence, we distilled 25 best practices into a Strategic Investment Framework designed to inform and maximize the impact of investments in narrative-based strategies. 

Use the framework.
Read the final report.

Research to Inform the Framework

• Lights, Camera, Impact: 20 Years of Research on the Power of Entertainment to Support Narrative Change
  
  
• Narrative Change and Impact: Analysis of In-Depth Interviews with Experts, Practitioners, and Funders in the Narrative Change Field
  
  
• Exploring Factors Associated with Impact in Entertainment-Driven Narrative Change: A Case Study of Hollywood, Health & Society Projects, 2012-2021
  Research Highlights
  
  
• A Deep-Dive Case Study of Hollywood, Health & Society’s Work on Maternal Health (2016-2023)
  
  
• A Deep-Dive Case Study of Hollywood, Health & Society’s Work on Narratives of Nuclear Threats (2015-2022)
  
  
  

Research Yields Best Practices

Director of Research Erica Rosenthal and Research Associate Ksenia Korobkova have distilled our findings into his latest entry on the California Health Care Foundation blog!

Read it here.