BUS-3080: Story & Strategy in Non-Profit Organizations

The non-profit sector is always seeking to develop leadership, enhance effectiveness, and improve results. Often neglected in these efforts is a re-examination of what inspired many of us to get involved in this work in the first place: a story that made an issue meaningful or an experience that ignited passion. Progressive change work, often plagued by limited capacity and resources, tends to lead with facts and truth with little regard for producing a meaningful story. But story is one of the most powerful tools we can employ in service of our cause. It has the ability to seamlessly communicate mission and impact, inspire around vision, build leadership, mobilize resources, action, and support and ensure sustainability within an organization. Today we see an emergent and inter-disciplinary approach to organization development drawing from the fields of communication, media and messaging along with strategic planning, adaptive leadership, storytelling, culture and creativity to meet shifting demands in this arena. Building our capacity for story-based strategy is rapidly becoming one of the essential tools for leading the future of non-profits and social sector. This course will explore the foundations of narrative work and its application to advance the mission of nonprofit organizations. With the rise of social media and the proliferation of communications, advertising and design in our current age, the work of myth and meaning-making becomes critical to our ability to bring about change at the scale we are seeking. Stories are constructed realities that serve to guide and support us in creating collective impact and realizing new futures. The nonprofit sector, community organizing campaigns and social movements are all investing more emphasis on storytelling and narrative strategy, as well as the use of design thinking and aesthetics to communicate their missions and mobilize resources and support for the work. Drawing from the work of grassroots intermediaries and nonprofit organizational development theory and practice, this course is designed to introduce students to the basic tools for developing story and strategy within nonprofit organizations and the larger sector. Students will be given opportunities to work collaboratively to frame and reframe issues and initiatives and apply tools and course concepts to real life examples of campaigns, organizations, social issues and global movements.
Min. Credits: 3.0 Max Credits: 4.0
Credit Basis: Quarter credit
Location(s): Antioch Univ Los Angeles
Method(s): Classroom
Course Type Liberal & Disciplinary Studies

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BUS-3080: Story & Strategy in Non-Profit Organizations