[NPFX Ep. 71] Narrative Strategy: How to Find Authentic Voices That Inspire Action (with Josh Gryniewicz and Kurt Shaw)
Many nonprofits invest valuable time and money into messaging that never quite connects. In today's episode, Josh Gryniewicz interviews Kurt Shaw about innovative strategies for finding and amplifying the voices that inspire action and change. You'll learn practical techniques for building trust, co-creating stories with community members, and using both fictional and non-fictional narratives to reveal deeper truths that challenge the status quo and create more genuine, transformative communication. Listen here:
Episode highlights include:
- The importance of building trust before engaging communities in storytelling
- Why institutions often struggle to listen—and what to do about it
- How collaborative filmmaking can elevate voices that traditional systems ignore
- Why fiction can reveal deeper truths than data or interviews
- How to gain buy-in from funders and public agencies for co-created narratives
- A simple, creative process for generating powerful community stories—fast
- The importance of leading with emotion and following up with evidence
- Why hope-based storytelling creates stronger long-term engagement than fear or shame
- How to find the best storytellers in your community—often the ones who don’t see themselves that way
- The risks of erasing agency when editing or repackaging lived experiences
- What it really means to “trust the storyteller and trust the audience”
- Why a clear vision of impact—not just metrics—is essential to guiding your narrative strategy
Special Offer: Free 30-minute consultation for NPFX listeners
Additional Resources
- IPM's free Nonprofit Resource Library
- [NPFX] Flipping the Script: Using Narrative Strategy to Improve Messaging and Prevent Donor Attrition
- [NPFX] Breaking Down Barriers to Social Change
- [NPFX] How Nonprofits Can Stop the Spread of Fake News & Misinformation with Storytelling
- [NPFX] When Your Nonprofit's Case for Support Just Isn't Working
- [NPFX] Engaging Audiences with Effective Messaging & Storytelling — What Works on Tough Issues
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Guests
Josh Gryniewicz, founder of Odd Duck, a storytelling for social change consultancy, has spent his career in nonprofit. He served as the communication director for Cure Violence, an internationally renowned violence prevention program featured in the award-winning film The Interrupters. Josh helmed the rebrand of Integrate Health, a global health initiative in West Africa, helping increase their budget by nearly $1 million. Most recently, Josh led communication efforts for Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH), a program focused on national multi-sector data sharing to address social determinants of health. He is the co-author of the national bestseller, Interrupting Violence, a moving story of redemption and social change.
Kurt Shaw studied philosophy at Williams and classics at Harvard, but his most formative education came from two years in Central American refugee camps and Colombian slums, where he found the thinking of poor and marginalized people more compelling than that of many philosophers. Kurt built the world’s largest network of grassroots organizations serving street children, helping reduce the number of kids living on Latin American streets. With co-director Rita da Silva at Usina da Imaginação, he pioneered collaborative filmmaking with youth — directing the first feature made entirely by ex-child soldiers, producing an indigenous telenovela in Bolivia, and creating the first fictional film in the Amazonian Tukano language. Their film The Princess in the Alleyway was named Best Film of 2017 by the Subversive Cinema Society, and their 2019 documentary The Other Side of the Other aired for two years on Brazilian public TV. In addition to publishing academic articles, novels, and books on topics from political philosophy to Amazonian epidemiology, he’s also produced hip-hop and pop albums, and earned a Fulbright, Harvard’s First Decade Award, the Freedom to Create Prize, and the UN Intercultural Innovation Award. In 2022, he was named an Academic Visitor at Oxford University.
Shine a Light foundation
Hosts
Russ Phaneuf, a co-founder of IPM Advancement, has a background in higher education development, with positions at the University of Hartford, Northern Arizona University, and Thunderbird School of Global Management. As IPM's managing director & chief strategist, Russ serves as lead fundraising strategist, award-winning content creator, and program analyst specializing in applied system dynamics.
Rich Frazier has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 35 years. In his roles as senior consultant with IPM Advancement and founder of VisionConnect LLC, Rich offers extensive understanding and knowledge in capital campaigns, fund development, strategic planning, and board of directors development.