The Storytelling Exchange
Some of the most important stories of social change never reach the people who need to hear them.
Across climate, health, development, justice, and other fields, people are doing extraordinary work and encountering stories that could shift how others understand an issue. But knowing a story exists is different from knowing how to tell it, who should tell it, and how to get it into the world.
At the same time, filmmakers, photographers, journalists, and other storytellers are constantly looking for meaningful stories, compelling characters, and new perspectives. Too often, the people with the stories and the people with the skills and platforms to tell them simply aren't in the same room.
The Storytelling Exchange is designed to change that.
Part networking event, part creative exchange, it will bring social change agents together with filmmakers, photographers, media professionals, and storytellers to discover what might happen when their worlds collide.
The premise is not that every organization needs a communications campaign or every encounter needs to become a film. It is about creating the conditions for unexpected creative relationships to begin. A conversation might uncover a story worth documenting. A photographer might find a community or issue they want to follow. A social entrepreneur might meet someone who sees their work from an entirely different angle.
Because powerful storytelling starts with finding the right story and the right person to tell it.
What to expect
An interactive, relationship-driven gathering designed to get people talking beyond their usual professional circles.
Rather than a series of presentations, participants will exchange stories, interests, ideas, and creative possibilities. Social change agents will have opportunities to share the stories they believe deserve greater attention, while storytellers can bring the subjects, formats, and questions they are interested in exploring.
The goal is to seed connections rather than manufacture collaborations: creating enough structure for the right people to find one another, then leaving room to see what develops.
Who this is for
This gathering is for social change leaders, activists, practitioners, and organizations with stories to tell, alongside filmmakers, photographers, journalists, producers, media professionals, and other storytellers looking for meaningful subjects, new perspectives, and potential creative collaborators.
What you will get out of it
Connections with people outside your usual professional and creative networks
Opportunities to discover stories, subjects, and perspectives worth exploring
New relationships between social change agents and storytellers
Fresh thinking about how important work can be translated into compelling human stories
The possibility of a creative collaboration that continues beyond UNGA week
Hosted by
Video Consortium