Storytelling for Birth Justice: A Two-Part Workshop Series

Stories move people in ways data alone never can. Data explains problems — stories make people care enough to do something about it.

Storytelling for Birth Justice is a two-part, hands-on workshop series exploring how digital storytelling can be used as a powerful tool for research, advocacy, and community engagement. Centering lived experience, this series invites participants to examine how stories can challenge dominant narratives, reduce stigma, build solidarity, and inspire action in birth justice and health equity work.

Led by Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, April Bell, PhD, MPH, participants will learn the foundations of digital storytelling and explore how voice, visuals, and narrative can elevate community knowledge beyond traditional and extractive approaches.

Session One (Virtual) 12pm-1:30pm introduces the core principles of digital storytelling. Participants will explore the 7-step digital storytelling framework, view and discuss impactful story examples, and learn how personal insight and lived experience can humanize complex issues and strengthen research, evaluation, and advocacy efforts.

Session Two (In-Person | Oakland, CA) 9am-12pm builds on this foundation with an extended, hands-on experience focused on storytelling for advocacy. Through guided exercises, story screenings, and story circles, participants will practice crafting and sharing narratives, explore ethical storytelling practices, and consider audience, purpose, and calls to action for real-world application.

By the end of the series, participants will:

• Understand the foundations and purpose of digital storytelling
• Learn the 7-step digital storytelling framework as a participatory method
• Analyze real examples of digital stories and their impact
• Practice crafting emotionally resonant, ethical advocacy narratives
• Explore applications for storytelling in research, organizing, campaigns, fundraising, and policy spaces

This workshop is open to researchers, community leaders, advocates, students, and anyone inspired by the power of voice and story. Come ready to listen, learn, and imagine what becomes possible when people are empowered to tell their own stories, in their own words.

This workshop is offered as a two-part series. Participants may register for one session or both, depending on interest and availability. Each session requires its own ticket selection. Please review the ticket options carefully to ensure you are registered for the session(s) you plan to attend.

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Host or Publisher UCSF Preterm Birth Initiative