Narrative challenge: How do you create the conditions in which people most affected by injustice help shape advocacy and policy, rather than being asked to share personal stories without real power in decision-making?

Evaluation metrics: Content produced, exposure gained, policy or practice change, and stronger strategic communications skills among grantees.

Related links:
Open Society Foundations: Moldova story
Narrative Arts Story Guide
Narrative Arts

Stanislav “Stas” Tcaci was 15 years old when he appeared in a short video made with his family in Straseni, Moldova. In the video, he says, “The only difference between me and other people is that I have physical problems, and they don’t. But they may have other problems.” His story became part of a larger media effort by Keystone Human Services International Moldova Association (KHSIMA), which advocated for the deinstitutionalization and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.

The campaign received support through the Health Media Initiative of the Open Society Foundations’ Public Health Program. In Moldova, that support included participatory video training and editing workshops that helped advocates and families shape stories that could challenge stigma and support disability rights. The Open Society Foundations article on the project notes that the Moldova workshop trained advocates to work with families to produce their own video stories and centered the Tcaci family’s experience after Stas returned home from an institution. [oai_citation:1‡Open Society Foundations](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/mental-health-advocates-moldova-use-film-tell-stories-children-disabilities)

“For the participants who tell their stories on video, it’s a lovely experience, and it’s challenging personally. But that’s not the reason we’re doing it. The goal here is to support the advocacy effort.”

— Brett Davidson, director of the Health Media Initiative

Story as strategy, not just testimony

KHSIMA’s advocacy focused on rights, public awareness, anti-stigma work, and self-advocacy. In that context, storytelling was not just about visibility. It was a way to help people with disabilities and their families participate more directly in public conversations that shaped policy, education, and community life.

As Brett Davidson explained, the stories were most effective when they were tied to a clear goal: closing institutions, reintegrating children into schools, persuading policymakers, reducing fear and stigma, or building support for community-based housing and services.

“Simply presenting the ‘evidence’ will not bring about change. You first have to make people care about the problem. And that is what storytelling does.”

— Brett Davidson

Building the conditions for self-advocacy

Many of the people involved in Health Media Initiative projects were not trained storytellers or videographers. To support grantees, the initiative worked with outside partners that could help people shape and share their stories with skill, care, and agency.

One partner focused on participatory media production and video training. Another, Narativ, trained people in deep listening, story development, and personal storytelling. The aim was not to extract stories from marginalized communities, but to support people in deciding what they wanted to say, how they wanted to say it, and how those stories could contribute to collective change.

That approach remains central to Narrative Arts’ broader framework for storytelling and social change. Your Story Guide emphasizes that strategy, ethics, audience, action, and evaluation all matter in effective story-based work. [oai_citation:2‡Narrative Arts](https://narrativearts.org/story-guide/)

Personal stories in public policy campaigns

The Health Media Initiative supported projects around the world. In Moldova, storytelling helped advocates challenge the isolation of children with disabilities and make the case for inclusion. In South Africa and elsewhere, stories were also used in campaigns connected to health, human rights, and legal reform.

The deeper lesson of this case study is that storytelling can do more than generate empathy. It can shift who is heard, who is seen as credible, and who gets to participate in decisions that affect their lives.

At Narrative Arts, we believe the most effective stories for change are not extracted from communities, but shaped with them in ways that deepen participation, strengthen relationships, and build power.

For more on our current approach, visit the Storytelling and Social Change Strategy Guide and explore more work at Narrative Arts.

Watch the project: Stanislav “Stas” Tcaci and his family share their story in this Open Society Foundations feature from Moldova.