Change IS the Story — A letter from Felicia Perez
PREFACE: I wrote this letter before the start of the Covid19 Pandemic. It would seem now more than ever, we are ALL looking for ways to change the story as well as keep ourselves and loved ones safe and healthy. And so in the end, the information and the message stay the same while the urgency and pressure to be victorious in the moment are even more important. I, for one, have been leaning harder into imagination these days, “When I look back to this time 5 years from now (2025) what do I want that story to be about? What role did I play? How did I show up? What will my legacy of that moment be?” (*Seems I’d like to play the role of “Story Gatherer” so be sure to check out my new podcast “Been There, Done That: A Pandemic Podcast” — Now in Season 2!) Until we see or speak to each other again — keep imagining, practicing and believing in the power we all have to add to the story and change the chapters that come after.
Once upon a time a group of strangers sat together in a dimly lit room to share stories, struggles and heartbeats. After a week of spending more time listening than speaking, all these amazing folks came to the realization that they were not really strangers but just friends who hadn’t met yet...
This is the truest fairy tale that I know! There were no strangers in the room at Redwood Glen back in June 2013 and that has remained true in every Story-based Strategy training I have attended.
I began working with CSS in 2013 as a Network Trainer with the possibility of coming on board as staff in communications and a developing area called the “Imagination Track.” At the time I was also learning to live with an intense chronic illness that requires me to be on chemotherapy for life and in doing so limits me. Not knowing how much time I would have, I was looking for opportunities to make the greatest impact I could in social justice movement building work. I am forever grateful that CSS opened its doors and welcomed me in to contribute however I could.
When I began to work with CSS I immediately saw that through it, I could make space for other strategists to spread their change-agent wings a little wider. Story-based Strategy is a critical missing piece to so much of our movement building work. I was determined to find as many ways as possible to communicate it to more people and to help folks see its utility and learn its function. From the incredible foundation set by the brilliant CSS staff that came before me, we began to imagine, to build, and to re-imagine some more. We imagined, played and began to innovate — making a few new things that perhaps you have seen…
Story-based Strategy Iconography
Story-based Strategy Overview Booklets
Story-based Strategy Rapid Prototyping Tools
Story-based Strategy Practitioner Fellowships & Case Studies
And creating SBS Online Trainings
I’m so proud of our commitment to accessibility, which led us to making our resources available in multiple languages, as well as to the advent of our Online Training work. Through our SBS Online Trainings, we have been able to — in just one year — train online over 1,000 folks in over 40 countries!
It’s been a truly transformative 7 years for me at CSS. It’s honestly been exhausting as well. In the midst of all the beautiful emergence of possibility, I experienced continued ups and downs with my health, and attended more funerals and anti-fascist political actions than I care to enumerate. My life today has signaled to me that it is time for a new pace and new directions. It’s time for me to start living like I am going to live, instead of believing and acting as if I have no more time. Moving cautiously from a place of scarcity to a new place of abundance. And so with a combination of excitement and a heavy heart, I am announcing my departure as the CSS Innovation Director at the end of August 2020.
I have nothing but love and respect for our organization, staff, board and network community. I am extremely grateful for the opportunities, support, and guidance CSS has given me. Up next is self-care, writing about what it means to live with a chronic illness in the US right now, teaching “Identity Narratives in Popular Culture” at the University of Nevada Reno, and down the road, a return to the CSS Network of Trainers. You can keep in touch with me at feliciaperez.com and you can email me heytherefeliciaperez@gmail.com.
I look forward to remaining in community with all of you. I cannot think of a better group of people to plot, plan, and play with. Working with all of you is most definitely a highlight of my life, put best by the group Heatwave — “You're the star of a story I'll always tell.”
I look forward to seeing you soon as we keep working to CHANGE THE STORY together, so that someday we can all live happily ever after. Tan. Tan.
In Solidarity Por Vida - Your Friend
Felicia
