3 days ago
How 3 creative leaders are using storytelling to build a more inclusive economy
Just telling a story can be a powerful tool to increase access to innovation.
At the 2025 Builders Conference session 'Digital Equity: How Storytelling Can Make Innovation More Accessible,' panelists agreed that empowering more people to tell their own stories creates a more inclusive tech ecosystem.
Naomi Winston from the Creative Representation Empire, Christina Reed from the Pitch Place and Micky Wolf from Dent Education described how they're building systems where more people — especially youth, artists and freelancers — can access the platforms and resources to share their perspectives, shape their communities, and define innovation on their own terms.
'Innovation is a form of empowerment. It's how we are inspiring other people to continue on making the world a better place,' said Winston. 'Hopelessness is a tool of oppression, so how do we inspire our young people and older generations to remember that hope has never been lost and will never be lost.'
The Creative Representation Empire creates culturally representative educational materials and programming — think coloring books and more — that have reached 20,000 youth in five countries.
Winston's perspective reframes innovation, pivoting it away from fast growth and toward longterm community impact.
'When it comes to youth and teaching and art, it's about how much impact can you make,' she said. 'How many people are you sustaining that impact for and then how are those people feeling empowered to continue making that impact.'
Reed echoed the sentiment about empowerment, relating it to the way the journalism industry has evolved. Her platform the Pitch Place lets freelance writers pitch multiple editors and receive bids on their work — flipping traditional power dynamics in media.
'A lot of freelancers are now using Substack and are content creators out there making their own money based on the stories they can tell,' Reed said. 'For journalists, this is a huge innovation for providing a space where you can find and have access to stories.'
Wolf of Dent Education, a youth-focused innovation hub in Baltimore City, said innovation is a tool for creative problem solving and should be used to build the future. This means creating a more inclusive definition of who an innovator is and encouraging youth to see themselves that way.
'To see our young people as change-makers,' he said. 'To have that hope of, we can build a better future starting today.'
All types of media can help people share their stories
All three panelists highlighted the importance of community-based storytelling — and the media's role in making those stories more visible.
Wolf shared the story of a Dent student who created a mental health venture called NAV that was featured in and later included in the 2024 Baltimore RealLIST Startups list. That kind of coverage validates young people's efforts, he said.
'Who are the stories that are being promoted,' he said. 'What is the way which our media organizations are telling those stories feels important.'
Social media creates even more opportunities for people to share their experiences, especially people of color, Winston said. This is important for other people to see experiences they can relate to that might not be included in traditional news outlets.
Traditional media can also play a role in sharing diverse voices and stories, Reed said. The Pitch Place allows users to talk about what's going on in their communities and reach a broader audience.
'To elevate from a local journalism perspective to an international perspective,' she said. 'Some of these stories have resonance not just in the local communities, but everywhere.'
Building trust leads to authentic, inclusive storytelling
The panel closed with a discussion of how storytelling can move beyond just describing inclusion — and actively create it.
It's important to gain trust with the people you are writing about, Reed said. Creating that bond and giving people some agency over their story and how it's told matters to the long term impact of inclusive storytelling.
It's best to describe and use direct quotes, Reed said. 'Show, don't tell,' she said.
Incorporating more video content to help viewers connect with students' stories on a human level has had a big impact at Dent Education, Wolf said. Watching young people explain their experiences is a more effective way to show the work Dent does.
For Winston, it's about balancing the need to create a profit and holding some parts of the storytelling process sacred, she said. If you start by pouring back into the community you're entering, it helps to build trust with your audience, she said.
'How do we hold art sacred when we commodify,' Winston said. 'Whatever industry you're in, find something you're willing to hold sacred within that and then that's how we can continue pushing forward storytelling.'
