SCG 2022 Annual Conference

Join us in-person at SCG's 2022 Annual Conference!
SCG’s 2022 Annual Conference — Narrative Power: Reframe Stories, Redefine Culture — will explore how philanthropy can build narrative power alongside communities as a vital component of a broader power-building ecosystem. Challenging dominant narratives and imagining new possibilities is an integral part of systems change work — in fact, it often precedes it.

Stories have always helped humans make sense of the world around them and their place in it. Our shared stories define what we believe in and value as a culture. Our cultural narratives also tell us who has a voice and is worthy of dignity and life.

Shared narratives have the power to unite us, but they also have the potential to divide.

Today, we are witnessing an incredible backlash to the progress and victories won by historically marginalized groups in the last century. At the heart of this backlash is a multitude of battles happening on the cultural level. We are seeing an increasingly polarized populace clash about everything from the “true” history of our country to who is recognized and protected by our laws to who is able and worthy of economic mobility. If the same dominant narratives remain unchallenged, we will continue to see decades of work undone and inequities intensified.

To achieve long-lasting progress in any focus area — whether it’s education access, universal healthcare, community safety, economic mobility and more — funders must support narrative power building or risk regressing and fighting an uphill battle.

SCG is excited to host a variety of cultural leaders who will share their insights on how philanthropy can support and strengthen the narrative power of communities. Our speakers will explore how philanthropy can invest in the infrastructure movements needed to build narrative momentum, dive deep into a range of narrative and storytelling strategies for systems change, and learn how we can support and center the voices of artists, truth-tellers, and cultural workers.

It’s time for our sector to interrogate the dominant narratives we are implicitly and explicitly reinforcing and center the voices of people marginalized by systems of oppression. As a sector, we can play a crucial role in dismantling dominant narratives and creating pathways for communities to craft new stories for an inclusive and courageous culture.