Junior League of Champlain Valley, VT

Hosted by the Junior League of Spokane & DeKalb.
 
Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Forbes of Orangewood Foundation 

For years, our society’s models for storytelling have relied on sensationalism, not only in the nonprofit sector, but also in media and advertising. Even when we seek services—from doctors or social workers—we answer the question: “What’s wrong?” Ethical storytelling offers a new model to tell the story of your organization and the people who seek services in a way that preserves their dignity, speaks to their strengths, inspires hope, and calls us to action.​ In this presentation, we will share our own journey working within an organization to define, practice, and execute ethical storytelling: what it is, how to do it, how to gain buy-in, and how to implement. There have been many workshops on ethical storytelling surface over the last several years, but in this presentation, we will share our learnings on how to put this into action. 

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Jonathan Forbes is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Orangewood Foundation, a nonprofit in Orange County, CA, that works with youth exiting foster care. In his role, he works with foundations, companies, individuals, and government agencies to secure resources and establish partnerships that support teens and young adults in his community. Prior to the Foundation, he was a grant writer at UC Santa Barbara where he wrote raised funds for scholarships and basic needs resources for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented minority students. Jonathan earned his PhD in English while teaching university-level courses in literature, writing, rhetoric and composition, and public speaking.