This is a recorded webinar!
This webinar originally took place on August 20, 2020 as part of the SVCN Funding Your Impact Summit.
Storytelling opportunities can be a boon for nonprofit organizations to engage donors by explaining their mission, vision, values, and services. At the same time, attempting to tell eye-catching stories has previously led nonprofits down a slippery slope of sensationalism and stereotypes. This session offers a set of ethical principles and practices to help guide nonprofit organizations toward stronger storytelling.
Principles include (1) substance over shortcuts, (2) "nothing about us without us," (3) constructive paths forward. We will look at past examples of storytelling in the social sector (as well as its pitfalls) to consider how nonprofit organizations can center the lived experiences of communities served. Finally, we will walk through a five-step framework for assessing story and campaign ideas using an ethical lens.
This session synthesizes material available in the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics' Social Sector ethical storytelling guide, which presenter Dr. Anita Varma developed and authored as part of her role as assistant director of Social Sector & Journalism Ethics at the Markkula Center.
Dr. Varma will be joined by panelists and storytellers Jessica Paz Cedillos, School of Arts & Culture, Usha Srinavasan, Sangam Arts, and Demone Carter, Sacred Heart Community Service.
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Anita Varma is the assistant director for Journalism & Media Ethics as well as Social Sector Ethics. She focuses on the design and implementation of applied ethics projects, conducts research, and facilitates public engagement for both program areas. From 2018-2019, Varma was a program manager at the Markkula Center.
Prior to joining the Markkula Center, Varma was a doctoral candidate at Stanford University in the Department of Communication, where she focused on journalism ethics and received her PhD in 2018. Her dissertation (Solidarity in Action: A Case Study of Journalistic Humanizing Techniques in the San Francisco Homeless Project) analyzed the role of solidarity in American journalism using a case study of how and why Bay Area journalists humanize homeless people.
Jessica Paz-Cedillos is the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico and El Salvador. She was born and raised in East Oakland and knows firsthand the impact that arts and culture can have to build pride, preserve heritage, and fuel community and economic development. Jessica has dedicated her career to the public sector, working for agencies like the ACLU. Prior to joining the SOAC, she served as Director of Resource Development for SOMOS Mayfair, doubling its budget from $1.5M to $3.4M. Over the years, Jessica has refined her leadership, fundraising, and operational skills. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College. Jessica is excited to be leading the School as Executive Director and looks forward to continuing her work in the Mayfair community.
Usha Srinivasan is the founder and president of Sangam Arts, a Silicon Valley 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to promote multicultural understanding through performing arts. She believes that the increasing cultural diversity in the US demands new modes of social integration. If we are to thrive as a vibrant, harmonious community rather than merely co-exist with uneasy alliances based on economics or politics alone, we must develop systemic ways to engage with each other in congenial, creative settings that help us see our common humanity while celebrating our differences. This is what she hopes to achieve through Sangam’s Mosaic initiative.
Usha was selected by Knight Foundation as a Creative Community Fellow in 2016. She sits on grants panels for National Endowment for the Arts, SVCreates, City of San Jose’s Office of Cultural Affairs and others. She is a Founding Circle member of Neythri - a global network for South Asian professional women and serves on the Board Member of e-learning non-profit Meemli. She has also served on the Board of World Arts West, the producer of the famous San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival and on the board of Wildlife Rescue, Palo Alto.
Prior to founding Sangam Arts, Usha worked in the hi-tech industry for nearly fifteen years. She holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Demone Carter is an award-winning Hip Hop artist, creative catalyst, and non-profit administrator who works to foster inclusion within San Jose’s arts and cultural ecosystem.
From 2014 to 2019 Demone was the Program Manager for the School of Arts and Culture’s Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI). In this role he was tasked with leading a cohort-based arts leadership program for arts professionals of color deeply engaged in Silicon Valley’s arts, culture, and entertainment sectors.
Before joining the School of Arts and Culture Demone co-founded FutureArtsNow! an award-winning for-profit creative expression program rooted in the elements of Hip Hop culture. FutureArtsNow! has received recognition from San Jose Job Corps ( 2013 Service to Youth Award) and the City of San Jose (2016 State of The City Honoree). Performing under the name DEM ONE he has released several albums, been named Silicon Valley Artist Laureate (2016), and recently took part in a cultural exchange musical tour of Vietnam in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.
In addition to recording and performing Demone is also the host of the Dad Bod Rap Pod podcast and writes about music, culture, and race for Content Magazine and San Jose Inside Blog. Currently, Mr. Carter is the Director of Community Engagement for Sacred Heart Community Service.
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