Neighborhood Partnerships & Asset Funders

Building a Movement:  Economically Just Narratives Project

Project Overview

In North America, cultural narratives about poverty often place undue emphasis on individual responsibility, sidelining systemic barriers, predatory practices, and racism. We partnered with local mission-driven organizations to ignite a community of practice. One that would unite community members, organizers, and culturally specific and philanthropic organizations to craft new narratives and build a movement for achieving economic justice in Oregon

Problem

From racialized cultural narratives that perpetuate unequal treatment, to patronizing beliefs that dehumanize and criminalize groups of people, these narratives not only affect individuals at the personal level, but also shape public policy that prioritizes behavior change while leaving unjust systems intact. Our challenge was to boldly embrace a liberation-rooted vision that is community-centered, guiding us toward racial and economic justice.

Solution

At Interplay, we cultivated a dynamic community of practice, called the Economically Just Narratives Project. It's a gathering of community members and organizations drawing on the wisdom of Insight Center, Wonder for Good, Institute for Community Health, Empowerment Economics, Prosperity Agenda, and others. Together, this project digs deep, confronting problematic narratives, and crafting new stories rooted in community. These new stories acknowledge the humanity of Black and Indigenous communities and people of color, affirming the inherent worthiness of every individual to truly live, not merely survive.

To start, we devised a power-building strategy that unites Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) led organizations, community members, and philanthropies into a formidable coalition. We've adopted an equity-centered, trauma-informed human design approach, leading and facilitating coalition engagement, including a series of hybrid workshops that have molded a collective discourse defining economic justice in Oregon.

Results

In collaboration with Wonder for Good, we've guided the coalition through a robust ethnographic research process, laying the foundation for crafting narratives that will amplify support for economic justice. Our work is creating space for the rich stories and cultures of people of color to flourish, reshaping narratives around work and value.

This is movement building, and a newfound base of support for campaigns in Oregon and beyond to reimagine systems and policies. With our social impact strategy, strategic planning, and creative communications services, a vibrant community of practice has emerged. Now, the project is ready to spearhead a statewide strategy, raising awareness and garnering support for economic justice.