Photo: SARE practitioners and GARE staff at Just Narratives.
By Nadia Mohamed
From November 13-15, 2025, more than 450 racial justice practitioners convened in St. Louis, MO, for Race Forward’s inaugural Just Narratives Convening, which brought together narrative strategists, communicators, creatives, storytellers, racial justice advocates, and movement builders.
Local, regional, and state government racial equity practitioners were among the advocates and movement builders present. States Advancing Racial Equity (SARE), a joint project of State of Equity and GARE to support a community of state government racial equity practitioners, brought together eleven practitioners from seven states for a pre-conference to explore core concepts in narrative strategy and build relationships with peers working at the state level. Elana Needle, SARE Co-lead at State of Equity, reflected, “States are one of the last bulwarks to stem the tide of the federal government’s plans for changing our country to their will. And, we have had such joyous wins at the state government level recently. Every chance SARE practitioners and staff get to be together is another chance for strengthening the work we want to do together across states.” SARE gathered practitioners from AZ, CA, MA, ME, MN, NY, and RI to do deep, interstate work together that advances racial equity.
Shannon Massaroco, Division of Youth Development, Rhode Island, shared, “The current narrative landscape around government is deeply shaped by distrust, frustration, and a perception that systems do more harm than good. In our work, particularly in youth justice and child welfare, this shows up as hesitancy from families, skepticism from partners, and emotional fatigue among staff. These narratives aren’t just background noise - they directly shape how people experience us before we ever have the chance to engage with them.”
During the SARE pre-conference, practitioners connected with each other and explored core concepts of narrative strategy. They also had the opportunity to practice consulting with one another on an issue or challenge they are facing. Lastly, they learned the basics of the GARE messaging framework, Affirm, Counter, and Transform (ACT), noting this was a “practical” framework and “one of the most valuable things we learned.”
Chavon Woods, Governor’s Office of Equal Opportunity, Arizona, reflected:
Conversations about equity are happening in a heightened environment where political polarization, misinformation, and equity fatigue are impacting how people perceive even the basic efforts to improve access and fairness. In my role, I have to be more intentional about how I frame [our work] as a commitment to effective governance, shared values, data-informed decision making, and delivering better outcomes for everyone. It is pushing me to use clearer language, driving impact, and providing an opportunity to connect equity work so that people can see and feel it in their daily lives. I think what I heard a lot from Just Narratives is telling outcome-based stories about real people affected by our systems that help illustrate why equity matters.
Government practitioners also attended over 35 breakout sessions, with many crafted specifically for those working in the public sector. Marsha Guthrie, Vice President of Public Sector Transformation and Senior Director of GARE, shared, ‘When you bring government and cultural creators into the same space, you create the perfect conditions for a more imaginative, accountable, and community-driven way of governing.” Guthrie chaired the panel “Reframing Government for Communities and a Multiracial Democracy.” The session included Dr. Farris Muhammad, a practitioner from Kansas who reflected, "The Just Narratives Conference was a pivotal gathering that underscored the importance of holistic and justice-centered narratives in government. It provided a unique platform for public administrators, communication experts, artists, and more to engage in meaningful discussions, share innovative ideas, and collaborate on strategies that promote equity and inclusion. The plenaries and breakout sessions were particularly enlightening, offering diverse perspectives and actionable insights that are crucial for driving systemic change."
In addition to over a dozen pre-conferences and 35 breakout sessions, Just Narratives also incorporated a People’s Assembly, four plenary sessions, a keynote, various art activations, performances, and evening social events. The opening plenary, “Weaving a Sustainable Infrastructure to Build Narrative Power,” featured powerful speakers Julia Roig, Founder and Chief Network Weaver, The Horizons Project, Rinku Sen, Executive Director, Narrative Initiative Jennifer Ng’andu, Managing Director, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Anna Castro, Principal Narrative Strategist, Transgender Law Center. One panelist reflected that we are the narrative infrastructure and encouraged us to think of ourselves like a jazz band when considering our roles within that infrastructure, and how we work together. They reminded us that “collaboration requires spacious energy.” Rinku Sen called on us to lean into the power of the collective: “community generates courage.” She emphasized that we must be willing to experiment and experimentation means being willing to get it wrong from time to time.
The conference’s People’s Assembly modeled a form of collaborative governance and solidarity, and anchored much of the first afternoon. A short information-based plenary spurred deliberation and conversation in smaller thematic breakout spaces that were lightly facilitated by GARE and Race Forward staff.
During the plenary portion, “Why Solidarity Narratives Matter,” Ishita Srivastava, Vice President of Cultural Strategy at FrameWorks Institute, offered a guidepost about the values and frames operating in a “System is Rigged Mindset.” She showed a diagram of an unbalanced scale, which represented “the system.” The heavier side of the scale tipped toward the side of “the people in power,” leaving “‘regular’ people to get a raw deal.” While narrating the meaning of the mindset, she explained that what changes is how people fill in the details. Who are the people in power? Is it contested - billionaires, coastal elites, immigrants? How can we, as narrative strategists and movement builders, help shape the details of this broader narrative frame?
Participants then had the option to choose from dozens of different, smaller breakout spaces and map out harmful and helpful narratives about their chosen sector or subject area. Rapid fire and energetic, it was a conference highlight for many participants and demonstrated what happens when we model broader values in how we convene and deliberate.
During the Fireside Chat: Power in Partnerships - Art, Networks, and Just Narratives, Janell Nelson and Tonika Johnson of Englewood Arts Collective shared an impactful example of the power of artists and cultural workers with long standing connections to the Greater Englewood area in the South side of Chicago. They showed what’s possible when you actively engage with neighbors and institutions, while also cultivating meaningful relationships with city agencies and elected officials. They surfaced and documented the devastating impact of land contract sales, and highlighted the power and promise of creative placemaking when led by the vision, dreams, and work of longstanding residents.
Reflecting on the broader impacts of a convening like Just Narratives, Karla Bruce, former Chief Equity Officer of Fairfax County, and current Chief of Staff at Race Forward, noted, “Just Narratives was an amazing experience and powerful reminder, particularly in this moment of political uncertainty and division. Having government leaders share space with movement leaders signaled the government’s commitment to listening, learning, and standing with people who are working every day to build a more just future and affirmed an understanding that effective public leadership has to be informed by the stories and lived experiences of the communities it serves.”
As the anchor event of the 2025 Cultural Week of Action, this inaugural Just Narratives convening represents GARE and Race Forward’s commitment to building both the narrative and cultural power needed to advance a just, multiracial democracy. Lenore Wyant, GARE’s Director of Network Engagement, shared, “I wanted government practitioners to be present because narrative power isn’t abstract - it is directly connected to how institutions function. In a moment when harmful stories are being weaponized to divide us - we need public stewards who understand the role of narrative in building and maintaining trust, advancing equity, and moving us toward collective liberation. Just Narratives created a cross-sector space for us to learn, be challenged, and to recommit to the work our communities deserve.” She continued, “Being at Just Narratives mattered because government practitioners need to be in the same rooms where narrative power is being shaped. When movement leaders, artists, storytellers are creating stories that shift mindsets and institutions, governments can’t sit on the sidelines. Our presence is part of learning how to listen differently, and how to transform our own practices in service of a multiracial democracy.”
Wyant’s words echoed with practitioners’ post-convening reflections. Noreal Armstrong, a county-level practitioner from GARE region 4, summarized, “There is power in community action and involvement. I want those in my county to use their voices in creative and action-oriented ways. I want to see more collaboration between local governments, the community, and artists in the community.” Regional and state-level government practitioners all mentioned the core benefit of building fellowship and solidarity at convenings like this - across and within sectors. Woods mentioned attending the convening meant gaining “solidarity and support in moving equity work forward as state practitioners.” Similarly, Massarocco concluded, “Being in fellowship with practitioners across the SARE network was grounding and energizing for us. We were reminded that we’re not doing this work in isolation—there is a national community of leaders inside the government who are navigating the same pressures, public narratives, and structural barriers we face in Rhode Island.”
#Narrative
#EventsintheField