Community Voices Initiative: A New Multi-Week Storytelling Course

In this intimate and interactive multi-week course, participants will take a deep dive into the practice of oral history and ethical storytelling with Voice of Witness (VOW).

Using insights and examples from our 15+ years of oral history for justice work, VOW staff will provide a comprehensive overview from project planning and methodology, to building relationships with community members and sitting down for an interview, to editing, archiving, amplifying, and beyond.

Participants will have the opportunity to plan, conduct, and edit their own oral history interview(s) with a community member, constituent, or colleague. With the support of experienced VOW staff, participants will complete the course with a powerful first-person narrative ready to share and a road map for documenting more stories and incorporating these strategies into social impact programming, community building, fundraising and communications efforts, advocacy, narrative change, and more. We’ll share guidance on continuing to integrate oral history and ethics-driven storytelling practices into your work after the Community Voices Initiative (CVI) course is completed.

More Info:

Format: Virtual (Zoom)
Structure: 7 weeks featuring four 90-minute workshop sessions and three “offline” weeks for interviewing and editing (see detailed schedule below)
Dates: The course runs from May 28th – July 9th
Participants: This cohort will include up to 16 participants
Who is this course for?: CVI is designed for advocates and nonprofit staff looking to expand their storytelling skills and document the first-person stories of community members. Program, advocacy, communications, and development professionals are especially encouraged to apply. No prior oral history experience is required.
Tuition: $200-$650 (see tuition tier details below)
How do I apply for this course?: Please complete the CVI Application Form to share a little bit about yourself and why this course would be a good fit. The form opens on April 1st and close on May 9th, 2025. VOW will review submissions on a rolling basis until the course is full. Applicants can expect a response within one week of submission. You will receive an email with a link to pay the tuition fee; your spot is confirmed once you submit payment. Tuition is non-refundable once submitted.

Schedule:

Week 1: Wed, May 28 (1pm – 2:30pm PT / 4pm – 5:30pm ET)
Week 2: Wed, June 4 (1pm – 2:30pm PT / 4pm – 5:30pm ET)
Week 3: OFFLINE (oral history interviews)
Week 4: OFFLINE (oral history interviews)
Week 5: Wed, June 25 (1pm – 2:30pm PT / 4pm – 5:30pm ET)
Week 6 : OFFLINE (editing)
Week 7: Wed July 9 (1pm – 2:30pm PT / 4pm – 5:30pm ET)

Sliding-Scale Tuition:

$250 Grassroots Rate: This level is reserved for staff from small organizations with an annual budget of less than $500k and/or advocates without reliable income who could not take this course otherwise (up to 2 seats). These seats have been filled.
$450 Solidarity Rate: This level is reserved for individuals from organizations with an annual budget of less than $850k and/or low-income advocates. This discount rate is also available for multiple individuals representing the same organization. (Up to 5 seats.) These seats have been filled.
$650 Standard Rate: This level is for individuals from organizations with an annual budget of more than $850k and/or individuals with the means to pay the full rate (Up to 9 seats)

Tuition covers 6 hours of facilitated trainings, access to personalized feedback/Q&A via email, course curriculum, Say It Forward: A Guide to Social Justice Storytelling e-book, and additional VOW resources. Our sliding-scale fee structure aims to make this course accessible while acknowledging our need to cover staff labor and rising costs.

While sessions will be recorded and shared with participants after, we highly recommend live participation in all or the majority of the sessions.