project overview & purpose

Overview

This proposal presents a six-month strategic storytelling initiative designed to strengthen community power-building efforts on Buffalo’s East Side. The initiative is structured as a collaborative pilot that documents lived experience, centers resident voice, and generates qualitative insight to support learning, strategy, and authentic community connection.

Rather than creating a separate program, this work is intended to align with and strengthen organizing, narrative change, and community development efforts already underway. The storytelling function will provide a consistent process for listening, documenting, synthesizing, and sharing what is emerging across community partnerships

Purpose

The purpose of this initiative is to use strategic storytelling as a tool for community engagement, narrative documentation, and institutional learning. Through multimedia documentation, convening support, and narrative analysis, the project will help surface the experiences, priorities, and leadership already present in Buffalo’s East Side neighborhoods.

This work is designed to:

• Center community voice in a structured and respectful way.

• Make visible the impact of collaborative work already taking place.

• Strengthen authentic relationships among residents, partners, and the Foundation.

• Provide narrative insight that can inform strategy, reflection, and future decision-making.