Systems Storytelling as a Healing Practice

Our Systems Storytelling work uplifts non-dominant traditions, methods, and narrative practices that support collective meaning-making, strengthen relationships, and nurture healing-centered approaches to systems transformation. We approach systems storytelling not simply as a way to communicate ideas, but as a reflective and relational practice—one that helps communities surface wisdom, deepen understanding, and imagine more life-giving futures together.

Collective Change Lab (CCL) is a field catalyst working at the intersection of healing and systems change. We partner with practitioners, funders, and institutions who are exploring how inner and outer change are intertwined, and how systems transformation can be supported through practices that center care, presence, and relational intelligence. Through fellowships, learning journeys, and field-building efforts, CCL creates spaces for people to learn, practice, and experiment with new ways of working together across difference and complexity.

We were motivated to bring Systems Storytelling to the field after observing how many change efforts move quickly toward solutions without making space for reflection, lived experience, and shared sensemaking. This platform invites a different approach—one that values slowing down, listening deeply, and engaging stories as a way to cultivate connection, insight, and collective imagination. By sharing case stories, principles, and practices, we hope to support a growing community using storytelling to enrich how systems change is understood, practiced, and lived.