Storytelling Strategy to Defeat Disinformation

This training will take place via Zoom Tuesday, May 31 and Wednesday, June 1 from 11am eastern until 7pm eastern each day.

Deadline for Applications is May 10, 2021.

The cost for this training is $300.

Whether you work on issue campaigns or electoral contests, the insidious and divisive effects of political disinformation have huge implications for your work and the communities you serve. Organized efforts to mislead and manipulate people on nearly every major issue- from climate change to pandemic response to voting rights to reproductive justice and beyond- is one of the biggest collective challenges we face. But simply exposing or “debunking” disinformation doesn’t make it go away. Indeed, many progressives’ habitual responses to disinformation campaigns active make the problem worse.

Fortunately, this means we have considerable power to fix this.

We have everything we need to defeat disinformation- if we develop the strategic mindset and discipline needed to embed inoculation tactics within every aspect of our campaigning, especially communications. In this practical, interactive two day training designed for progressive communicators and policy advocates, we’ll explore and address:

• How disinformation intersects with other forms of political manipulation to undermine our advocacy and our communities’ overall well-being
• How bad actors weaponize our good intentions against us and what we can do about it
• How values-driven messaging & storytelling strategies help neutralize disinformation in the short-term and inoculate our communities over the long-term
• How to integrate (and/or improve upon) strategic messaging and storytelling efforts within our current communications and advocacy campaigns

The target audience for this training are Progressive Communicators and Advocates Trainer

Sabrina Joy Stevens is a storyteller and movement-builder who has spent the last 20 years organizing and advocating for human and civil rights. Over the past decade, she has served as an accomplished communications and issue campaign strategist for several of the country’s leading labor and civil rights organizations. She recently launched Sabijoy Creative Solutions, a boutique social change consultancy dedicated to cultivating joy and courage for personal and collective liberation. Her words and work on issues related to power, identity, and democracy have appeared in a range of outlets, including MSNBC, The Washington Post, Sirius XM Progress, TIME.com, CNN.com, Education Week, The American Prospect, The Hill, Roll Call and more.

Our goal is to train the next generation of progressive digital practitioners across the country and we are committed to bringing together a cohort that represents everyone in our progressive movement without regard for race, national origin, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or parental status.

A limited number of partial scholarships are available…please apply by May 10th and we will be notifying scholarship recipients no later than May 20th. Please note you must fill out the full application for the training itself as well.