Overview
What We Do
At Stories Change Power, we provide training, coaching, and learning opportunities for people who want to make a difference in their neighborhoods, communities, and country with the tools, strategy, and network to be effective, empathetic, and trusted advocates.
Our approach harnesses the transformative power of storytelling, combining narratives, research, and data to drive change.
We center those most impacted by the issues, engage decision-makers who can create solutions, and ground our strategies in today’s realities while envisioning a just and peaceful future.
Why We Do It
We all deserve a world that works for everyone - no exceptions.
To make that world a reality, we need fair laws, policies, and systems at every level in our neighborhoods, communities, and country-wide.
Only through effective advocacy will good ideas and smart research become good laws and smart policies. (Not by sitting in PDF files no one reads.)
Effective advocacy requires strategy, data, empathy, trust, resilience — and compelling narratives from passionate advocates to inspire action and drive lasting change.
That's why we created Stories Change Power.
How It Works
We make the invisible visible as we teach you the power of narrative with a blend of stories, research, and data.
We share strategies that center people who bear the brunt of a problem, understand the people who are in positions to create a solution, and account for our current reality while striving for a just and peaceful future.
Embedded in our approach is the power of storytelling to broaden cultural understanding, influence public policy, and create a world where everyone can thrive together - no exceptions. Underneath all we do is a celebration of our shared humanity.
Whether implicitly or explicitly, we grapple with questions like: How do we see, treat, and speak to each other? How do we respect others, even those with whom we disagree? How do we prioritize dignity over expediency and get ego out of the way to value humility?
In short, we help hearts and minds reach the hearts and minds with power to create a just and peaceful world.
Who We Are
Piper Hendricks, Founder
Our organization is led by Piper Hendricks, a former human rights litigator, documentary filmmaker, and recognized advocacy expert.
Piper has a passion for the power of story, a record of developing innovative strategy, and an eye for content that moves people to action. Two themes span her nontraditional career path: justice and storytelling. In a variety of formats, she's employed storytelling to inspire action; whether in the courtroom, on the silver screen, or on Capitol Hill, she champions change to promote opportunity for all.
She created Stories Change Power to help individuals and organizations claim their power, share their stories, and change the world.
Connect with Piper on Linked In.
Board of Directors
Jule Hall
Alexis Matsui
Jaime Werner
Our Core Values
Radical (răd′ĭ-kəl) adjective
1. Different from the usual; 2. Designed to address the root of a problem; 3. Relating to or advocating fundamental changes in current practices, conditions, or institutions.
Stories Change Power aims to live our values in all that we do. Inspired by work around Radical Candor and Radical Acceptance, we use the term "radical" to mean an approach that is courageous and goes beyond current norms with hope to help transform those norms.
1. RADICAL DECENCY
Above all else, we recognize and respect the inherent dignity in every person and the fact life is most fully lived in relationship with other human beings. We understand the harms of an individualistic, competitive mindset. Instead, we prioritize decency - respect, understanding, empathy, acceptance, appreciation, fairness and justice – in all we do at all times. We value relationality, a concept often celebrated in Indigenous cultures that recognizes the connectedness of humankind across history and geography and the complex and dynamic ways we impact each other as we live in community.
2. RADICAL INCLUSION
We recognize that groups of people are stronger than the sum of individuals, and know that the more diverse the individuals, the stronger we are as a whole. Across history, people have been - and continue to be - excluded based on race, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and religion, among many other factors. Instead, we actively seek to hear all voices, foster a sense of belonging, and ensure everyone feels – and is – seen, valued, and appreciated.
3. RADICAL COLLABORATION
We recognize that everyone has gifts, but none have all the gifts. We understand many factors promote a sense of competition even among like-minded individuals and organizations. Instead, we embrace partnerships where we can combine our gifts of time, talent, and capacity to achieve a shared goal.
4. RADICAL CANDOR
We recognize the value of honest conversation and the peace of mind that comes with transparency involving individuals and an organization as a whole. We understand the harms of poor communication common in today’s workplaces. Instead, we share our thoughts and opinions honestly and directly while caring about the people involved. We endeavor to ensure that if something needs to be said and productively addressed, it will be, such that if nothing is being said, it’s because nothing is amiss. (This focus and term are inspired by the work of Kim Scott.)
5. RADICAL GROWTH
We recognize that with time and support, capacities can broaden and talents can improve. We understand the harms of expecting perfection in ourselves and others and of a "fake it till you make it" mindset devoid of a space to be vulnerable. Instead, we embrace a growth mindset, meaning we are human, learn from our mistakes, and create space to say “I don’t know – yet,” all while enjoying the process of reaching our goals, not just the destination.
6. RADICAL AGENCY
We recognize the responsibility of every individual to think and act for themselves, utilize their individual power, and shape their life trajectory to the extent of their ability. We understand that structures and dynamics in the workplace and society writ large often limit agency. Instead, we encourage embracing one’s power to determine one’s own balance of giving and receiving joy, care, and support in order to lead a fulfilling and meaningful life.
7. RADICAL INTENTIONALITY
We recognize that time and budgets are finite, while also knowing that decisions have human consequences. We understand the probability of having more ideas and possibilities than there are hours in the day or funds to pursue them, and that decisions have a ripple effect. As such, we endeavor to be clear about our priorities and make decisions that maximize positive impact without causing or ignoring harm.
8. RADICAL CURIOSITY
We recognize that when it comes to shaping laws, policies, and systems, few things are certain and even fewer are simple. Effective advocacy accounts for a wide variety of viewpoints and requires understanding multiple perspectives. We gain that understanding through curiosity, or "filling in the gap between what you know and what you want to know." Radical curiosity means we actively and continuously expand what we want to know.
Our Logo: The Two Loops Model
Our logo nods to the Two Loops model, a theory of change credited to Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze and inspired by the most successful kind of system on the planet: ecosystems. Imagine pale green leaves emerging on a tree in spring, developing into a robust canopy in the summer, then turning brilliant shades of autumn colors before falling to the ground to decompose over winter and continue the cycle the following year. Instead of a full circle, Two Loops recognizes the overlap in growth and decline: preparation for spring takes place underground even as the autumn leaves are still falling.
In other words, a new cycle begins before the other fully ends.
Unlike the obvious change of seasons, we humans may be lulled into thinking our "systems" – meaning our ways of doing things and ways of living – can go on forever. In reality, our laws, policies, and systems grow and decline, and that process can be inspiring and daunting, invigorating and terrifying, hopeful and heartbreaking all at once.
In our logo, the arch on the left is the first “loop,” representing the initial growth and subsequent decline of an existing system. The arch on the right, the second “loop,” is the next generation of that system. The logo captures the fact that change isn't linear; the two systems aren't connected by a clear set of steps from the old to the new. Instead, there is a jump, and crossing that chasm requires courage.
Picture a forest of trees and imagine you could swing along the branches. Sometimes you might enjoy a firm grasp of one branch before releasing another, but more often than not, reaching the next branch would require letting go of the one you have in hand. In that moment of letting go, you’d be floating in space. Feeling unmoored, unsupported, and uncertain can unnerve us to our core, especially if we don’t know where, when, or how we'll reach the next branch – or loop.
That space requires bravery.
And we are currently in such a space.
Like all human systems to date, current systems serve some people well while others are served less well (at best) or deeply harmed (at worst). Those who are well served, particularly those who built the current system or are leaders within it, may be deeply invested in maintaining the current system, whether or not they recognize harms it has caused. Other groups are eager for something new to emerge with hope the next system will support a better life.
Put another way, some people readily see the need for change and will join together in building the next loop, while others spend their energy tending to a system in decline, not realizing that trying to stop this cycle is like trying to stop the change of seasons. Meanwhile, those open to change have already begun to imagine the next iteration even before the old system has ended.
In the space between loops, we have the power to determine how sustainable the next loop will be. Will it last for many seasons or soon give way to yet another version?
History shows us that, like the elements of decomposing leaves support life in the next seasons, all resources eventually move to the new system. Along the way, we navigate how to let go of the old system with dignity, how to build the new system with intentionality, and how to accept that change can be deeply uncomfortable, whether one welcomes it or not.
Even as we recognize global change underway, as a United States-based organization, our logo nods to the two major U.S. political parties converging in the current loop. Some may argue the two have rarely been further apart than at any point in our country’s history, but we know our shared future is linked.
At Stories Change Power, we want this next loop to be the one where advocates are so effective they achieve their goals of laws, policies, and systems that work for everyone. That’s why our second loop is a hopeful yellow and broadens as more people join in building it.
Together, these three primary colors of painting can combine to form every color under the sun, recognizing that no matter how many ways we humans seek to divide ourselves, the system that will last is the one that provides a just and peaceful future for everyone - no exceptions.