A Story for This Moment
As changemakers, we're telling stories all the time.
We tell stories about why we do our work, the impact it creates, and the values that guide it. Storytelling is fundamental to how human beings communicate. It's how we make sense of the world around us and understand our role in it.
Even silence tells a story.
There are certain stories every leader needs: A vision story. An impact story. A values story. But right now, I think there's another story every leader needs, and I don't hear enough people telling it.
I call it the How Now story.
Your How Now story explains how your organization is creating impact in today's conditions. Rather than getting lost in the negativity of the moment, it helps people see the opportunities that still exist to drive meaningful change.
This story is important for your external audiences: supporters, donors, volunteers, partners, and community members. But often, its most important audience is your own team.
Many people working in social change feel overwhelmed. Resources are tight. The challenges seem bigger than ever. It's easy to wonder whether our efforts can really make a difference.
A strong How Now story acknowledges those realities while answering a simple but powerful question:
How are we creating change now, in the world as it is today?
When people can see a credible path forward, they regain a sense of purpose and possibility.
Part of why this moment feels so challenging is what I call the Trifecta of Change: three forces colliding at once.
Big, complex problems
Declining trust in traditional institutions
A rapid pace of change
Together, these forces create real obstacles. But the biggest impact is that they make us think change is impossible. Because they also create unprecedented opportunities for changemakers – more on the below.
Organizations that can help people see both the challenge and the opportunity of these conditions will be better equipped to inspire action, build momentum, and create lasting impact.
Enter the How Now story.
When we talk about the current moment, it's easy to focus exclusively on what isn't working.
But when you reframe each of the elements of the Trifecta of Change, a different picture begins to emerge.
Big Problems Create Opportunity
The challenges we face are real. They are serious. They are urgent. But big problems also attract resources, energy, attention, and ingenuity.
In The Changemaker's Toolkit, I interview Vaughn Crandall, whose work focuses on reducing violent crime and homicides in communities across North and Central America.
I asked him what it takes to create transformational results. His answer surprised me.
He said: meaningful change often begins with a moment of crisis.
A crisis creates urgency. It creates openness. It creates a willingness to work with new people and try new approaches that might not have been considered before. When you're living through a crisis, it can be incredibly difficult to see the opportunity inside it.
But that opportunity exists.
Low Trust Creates Opportunity
Trust in traditional institutions has fallen dramatically. Many people have lost confidence in government, media, and other large institutions who are tasked with solving the big, gnarly problems we face.
But that same environment creates opportunity for new players. The organizations that enjoy the highest levels of public trust are locally-embedded, community-driven organizations.
People are looking for ways to make a difference; for productive places to put their pent up concerns about the future of the world. They want to volunteer. They want to donate. They want to get involved. And they are often looking to local organizations to help them do that.
Rapid Change Creates Opportunity
The pace of change today can feel destabilizing. But it has also makes it easier, faster, and cheaper to connect, learn, test ideas, and innovate than has ever been true in the past.
We can learn from changemakers in other communities and other countries. We can pilot new approaches quickly. We can use tools that help us spend less time on routine tasks and more time on meaningful work.
In many new and evolving ways, organizations today function as laboratories for change. And they’re seeing remarkable results (that never make the headlines) not despite the Trifecta of Change but because of it.
Once you begin to see the opportunities within the current moment, the next step is turning them into a story.
Your How Now story answers a simple question: How are we making the most of this moment?
To answer that question, start with three others:
Where is the opportunity in this crisis for our work?
How can we lean into the trust that exists between us and the people we serve?
How can we take advantage of today's rapid rate of change?
The answers will be different for every organization. But the process is the same.
A How Now Story in Practice
Imagine an organization focused on supporting people who are unhoused.
Their How Now story might sound something like this: Yes, the housing crisis is getting worse.
And because more people are seeing it in their own communities, there is more attention, more awareness, and more interest in solving it. That creates opportunities for funding, partnerships, media coverage, and public engagement.
People may not trust elected officials to solve the problem, but they often trust organizations working directly in their communities. That creates opportunities to build relationships with donors, volunteers, and supporters who want to help.
And because today's tools make it easier to connect with experts, test new ideas, streamline operations, and learn from other communities, the organization can move faster than it could a decade ago.
That is a How Now story.
The How Now story is not intended to dismiss fear, anxiety, grief, or frustration.
Those emotions are real. They are valid. And leaders need to create space for them.
The point isn't to pretend everything is fine. And it's not to say, "Things are hard, but here's the silver lining."
The How Now story says: “Things are hard, and here is how we are driving impact in these conditions.”
That distinction matters. Because nobody who doesn't believe change is possible changes the world.
Belief drives action.
As a changemaker, your biggest responsibility right now is helping people understand how impact is still possible in the current moment. Not despite the conditions we face, but because of how we respond to them.