Work With Us
Voice of Witness offers expert storytelling and program support to organizations, educators, advocates, foundations, artists, and more. These collaborations harness the power of sharing stories to promote empathy, learning, and action by building strong connections between people and communities. We work with clients to develop customized, interactive projects, workshops, and activities, using our award-winning oral history methodology to advance your mission. Learn about our services and previous partnerships below.
Services for:
Organizations & Individuals | Educators & Schools
FOR ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS
Storytelling Workshops and In-depth Projects
Voice of Witness excels at tailoring our oral history approach to support organizations and individuals in building skills and amplifying the stories of people they serve. Whether you want to create a specific storytelling project—such as a book, campaign, or podcast—or use oral history practices to increase capacity for learning, mutual respect, and inclusion among your stakeholders, VOW’s services can be customized to fit your needs. We will work with you to develop and facilitate workshops, trainings, and/or storytelling projects to meet your objectives. This can include:
- Guided oral history-based activities to promote empathy, community, active listening, and inclusion among staff, peers, or stakeholders
- Documenting and uplifting the voices of your community, resulting in storytelling campaigns, events, books, podcasts, courses, and more
- Creating ethical, trauma-informed storytelling practices and guidelines
- Developing story-based communications, fundraising, and advocacy materials
Partnerships in Action
Nearpod
We facilitated a staff workshop for Nearpod, an ed-tech company, sharing best practices for deep listening, inclusion, and ethical storytelling that their teams could integrate at work.
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
We led multiple storytelling trainings for the EBSC community, resulting in messages and stories that serve as effective strategic tools for immigration justice campaigns.
Koreatown Youth and Community Center
Through oral history trainings and intergenerational curricular support, we supported KYCC in developing their Koreatown Storytelling Project.
UCSF Memory and Aging Center
We conduct ethics-driven oral history trainings to increase health practitioners’ capacity for empathy and active listening, and produce storytelling projects to build community and reduce stigma.I was impressed by how streamlined and relatable the training was for our audience. We had people with no high school education and some with graduate-level experience, but the VOW workshop was eye-opening and meaningful to all.
Katherine Kim
KYCC Communications Director
Voice of Witness does incredible work. I have personally seen transformation in people who have been trained and educated by VOW.
Jeff Steinberg
Founder of the Sojourn Project
Without question, Voice of Witness provides singular guidance and knowledge to grassroots groups aspiring to share and preserve the oral history of their communities.
Tibet Resettlement Project: Voices from Boston
FOR EDUCATORS AND SCHOOLS
Curricular and Project Support
Voice of Witness has extensive experience working with teachers, school districts, and education organizations to create curricula and activities that increase student engagement in the classroom, including:
- Curriculum design that promotes social-emotional learning, critical thinking, and communication
- Oral history projects that address the need for inclusive, culturally relevant learning and build empathy and belonging
- Programs for community engagement and participation through storytelling
- Program development to support multilingual learners
Educator Support in Action
NYC Department of Education
We facilitated a workshop series with NYC teachers and developed lesson plans for the Dept. of Ed. as part of their Hidden Voices Project amplifying stories from underrepresented communities.
Sequoia Living
Voice of Witness created an intergenerational storytelling project between Sequoia Living, a senior housing and services nonprofit, and local middle and high schoolers.
SF Unified School District
Our ongoing partnership with SFUSD teachers and librarians brings our oral history pedagogy to middle and high schools around the city through PD sessions and hands-on classroom support.
Puente Project
We facilitated oral history trainings for community college students to record, edit, and compile their first-person stories of living through the pandemic, building their skills and reducing isolation.Students greatly benefitted from the thoughtful and engaging lessons created by Voice of Witness and their expertise in creating oral histories. I feel that the collaboration helped students to see their own work as part of a larger movement to tell the untold stories of people in our community, and not just an assignment in school.
Susan Warren
Teacher, Berkeley High School
Through this project I have learned the value of oral history and how it has the power to show us more about different stories and perspectives. [It] allows us to connect with different narratives because we look deeper into people’s lives. We see the complexity of every individual and their stories.
M.L.
12th grader
The VOW project has been an ideal way not only to elicit stories from two populations whose voices aren’t often amplified, but it was also truly bidirectional — students and residents were equal partners in the process. Several residents have cried telling their social workers how this is the best thing that’s happened to them in a long time.
Taryn Patterson
Sequoia Living Intergenerational Specialist
Interested in Collaborating?
Above are a few examples of our highly adaptable services. We operate on a sliding scale and individual budgets are developed in response to the specific needs of the organization. Every engagement is customized to best support the project and goals of our partners. Don’t hesitate to start a conversation to learn more!
Past VOW Partners
