Training

Opportunity: StoryCorps was a year into piloting a new Train-the-Trainer program for public radio stations. The objective: teach them to recruit for, facilitate, record, and share powerful divide-bridging conversations between strangers in their communities. I took on leadership in 2020 at the start of Year 2, when StoryCorps needed to further operationalize the program for scalability, drive more engagement, deepen its reach into diverse markets, and enhance the capacity-building value for stations.

Task:
1) Incorporate more collaboration and resource sharing among partners.
2) Help stations get local community partners to promote the program.
3) Train stations in editorial practices to make their stories really resonate with audiences.
4) Help stations host their own end-of-year Listening Events to showcase their work and impact.

Action: I kicked off Year 2 with a two-day training at StoryCorps' Brooklyn HQ, focusing on ethical story facilitation practices for One Small Step conversations, then:
> Made the "pandemic pivot", launching a new virtual recording platform with tailored guides and Facilitator scripts for my stations, led peer practicum so stations could support each other as they learned virtual facilitation skills.
> Developed outreach strategy resources to help stations connect their program with community needs, particularly during lockdown, and facilitated cohort discussions on successes & challenges.
> Brought in a live virtual events expert to help stations prepare for Listening Events with ready-to-use templates, tech playbooks, and virtual engagement best practices.
> Co-produced the first-ever "OSS Hubs Listening Event Highlight Reel" (featured here!), giving stations hero content to showcase their program’s impact to audiences.

In Year 3, I:
> Directed monthly topical huddles, where stations shared strategies, challenges, and insights, & alumni joined as guest mentors.
>Developed Spanish language resources and launched the first bilingual version of One Small Step, to expand reach and accessibility for diverse communities.
> Re-imagined Editorial Training into multi-session, hands-on workshops where stations refined actual story outlines and rough cuts with feedback from their cohort and our Editorial experts.
> Re-imagined the training schedule to start with virtual models, followed by supplemental in-person training for stations with local demand, ensuring flexibility and responsiveness to community needs.

Result: In Year 2, we exceeded deliverables, recording over 150 conversations, broadcasting dozens of original stories, and hosting six virtual Listening Events in just six months, despite the challenges of all-virtual execution. In Year 3, we strengthened station capacity and partnership ties, exceeding program goals once again. The success of stations' audience and community engagement, combined with the streamlined program design, paved the way for many stations to sustain and evolve their recording programs beyond the grant period, integrating them into their broader community engagement strategies. This made the program a valuable source of personal, topical content on challenging political issues. The alumni engagement approach was also so effective that it inspired the One Small Step division to invest in an expanded alum program, which continues to grow today.