CONSULT
We work alongside organizations, artists, and grantmaking institutions to strengthen their narrative and cultural strategies in service of systemic change.
Our approach combines strategic advising, storytelling support, and audience insight to help partners deepen their narrative power, sharpen their messaging, and align their work with broader movements for repair and redistribution. Whether designing campaigns, shifting public perception, or building internal capacity, we help partners integrate narrative and cultural strategy into every level of their work.
Capacity Building Partnerships
Cypress Fund
The Cypress Fund is a movement-led and informed social justice fund supporting grassroots power building across the Southern United States. In 2022, The BLIS Collective partnered with Cypress to create a community of practice with their movement partners to engage in a series of strategic communication and narrative power-building workshops.
Govern for America
Govern for America connects emerging leaders into full-time government jobs and provides the training, mentorship, and community they need to build the skills to lead while sparking a lifelong commitment to public service. The BLIS Collective partnered with GFA in 2023 to conduct a virtual training titled Racism, Weight, and Power that supported their fellows in better understanding and identifying critical moments regarding the history of colonialism and capitalism in the United States and how that has shaped society today.
New York Civil Liberties Union
The New York Civil Liberties Union is the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, and advocates for all New Yorkers to have equal access to opportunities and the equal ability to participate in government decisions that affect them. In 2022, the BLIS Collective partnered with NYCLU to get a better understanding of the national and local reparations landscape to support future reparations advocacy and other policy priorities.
Health Equity Narrative Lab
The Health Equity Narrative Lab is a groundbreaking initiative designed to transform public perception of the need for health equity. Initiated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by the BLIS Collective, in coordination with Story Strategy Group, the Lab developed an innovative narrative tool designed to help organizations, advocates, and funders inspire action to shift cultural perceptions around health in the United States. At the heart of this work is the Health Eqiuity Narrative House, a comprehensive schematic that guides storytelling and powerbuilding strategies to expand the choir and base of people supporting health equity.