TLDR: 2024 at a Glance
- 14,000+ people grounded their work in our annual Narrative Predictions
- Spanish-First Training Pilots broke barriers and brought narrative tools en español
- MVP Echos Academy launched 13 game-changing narrative projects with $334K awarded
- On-demand Virtual Training made narrative power-building accessible to 410+ participants from across the United States and abroad
- ReFrame officially spun out into its own independent entity — new chapter, who dis?!
- Post-Election Narrative Clinics anchored our movements during the election horserace
2024 was the year we leveled up, broke barriers and built power together. Let's talk about it!
Starting Bold: 2024 Predictions Set the Stage
ReFrame kicked off 2024 with clarity and vision. Our 2024 Annual Narrative Predictions dropped in January and became the anchor for movements navigating a complex year. The report hit some major themes — economic narratives, labor struggles, the gerontocracy and cultural reckonings — and found its way into the hands of 14,000+ organizers and strategists, helping them sharpen the tools in their toolboxes. Over 300 organizers and communicators gathered to dissect the report at the 2024 Predictions Town Hall to ask questions, share musings, and strategize for the year ahead.
Now, we’re inviting you to join us again — The Great Transition: ReFrame’s 2025 Narrative Predictions report is live with insights for the coming year! These predictions are not just analyses but call to action for anyone ready to build new narratives and build the infrastructure needed to score some wins.
Mark your calendars for the 2025 Predictions Town Hall on January 23, 2025, to connect, strategize, and prepare for the year ahead. Register here.
Reimagining Philanthropy Through Narrative Power
In 2024, we wrapped up our inaugural Narrative Nexus: Power and Philanthropy program! Co-sponsored by The California Endowment and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, with support from the Melville Charitable Trust, the series connected funders to the critical role of narrative in shaping movements and driving change. The six-part series, designed for 34 leaders across philanthropy, offered a deep dive into narrative power and infrastructure building, blending five virtual sessions with a final in-person convening. Facilitated by hermelinda cortés, Jung Hee Choi, and Joseph Phelan, Narrative Nexus became a space for big questions, bold ideas, and practical strategies—offering participants the tools to reimagine how philanthropy can support transformative narrative work. Keep an eye out in 2025 for recommendations for what philanthropy can do to support narrative power building sustainably!
This series is proof of what’s possible when we invest in building narrative power at every level of our movements. With your support, we can expand opportunities like Narrative Nexus, equipping even more leaders to amplify stories of justice and liberation. Donate today to help sustain and grow programs that connect philanthropy with the work of shaping narratives for lasting change.
Language Shouldn't Be a Barrier to Building Narrative Power
Narrative power must reflect the diversity of our movements. This October, we launched our first-ever Spanish-First Training pilots, a project born from years of dreaming and scheming. Over the course of two trainings and feedback sessions, 17 organizations joined us to sharpen their narrative strategies and build tools in a space designed specifically for Spanish-speaking organizers and communicators.
The pilot was also a space of affirmation. Participants shared that for the first time, they felt fully seen in a space dedicated to shoring up core narrative strategy and tactics to apply to their work. Real-time feedback is already helping us refine the curriculum and in 2025, we’re excited to expand this work even further.
ReFrame’s Spanish First pilot program marked a pivotal moment for narrative infrastructure building, and we’re just getting started. With your support, we can keep building on this foundation and ensure these tools reach even more movement organizers.
California Narrative Power in Action: Million Voters Project Echos Academy
When it comes to building power, California has always been a bellwether, and the MVP Echos Academy is proof of that. In May, we launched this seven-month program in partnership with the Million Voters Project, bringing together 38 narrative practitioners in 19 organizations to align around shared goals: building multiracial democracy, advancing care and inclusion, and holding corporations accountable.
The work started in Costa Mesa, where strategy sessions unfolded under the California sun. Late-night brainstorms, fireside conversations, and real-world planning sessions set the stage for weekly virtual programming from June through November. These sessions became a testing ground for bold narrative experiments across the state. Echos launched 13 public education narrative projects by year's end to tackle urgent issues like climate justice, economic inequality, and immigrant rights. Supported by $334K in microgrants, these projects seeded narrative shifts in communities across the state.
When we invest in people and their moonshot ideas, we can build a narrative infrastructure that lasts. Your contributions make initiatives like this possible, and with your help, we’re ready to expand these efforts in the coming years.
Big Moves: ReFrame Spins Out as Its Own Entity
We did our big one! In September, ReFrame officially became an independent organization with its own bylaws, infrastructure, and vision. But let’s be real: this was more than just an operational shift; it was about fully stepping into our power as a movement organization and network utility.
To mark the occasion, we brought the team together for a staff retreat where we reflected on the journey and dreamed about what’s next. Using an almost comical number of sticky notes and notes in an endless Google doc, we mapped out the experiments and milestones that led us here and charted the ones we’re making big bets on in the future.
With your support, we’re entering this next decade stronger, bolder, and more committed than ever to building the narrative power movements need to win.
Sense-Making Spaces: From Salons to Strategy Clinics
Early in 2024, we launched the Narrative Salon Series, a laboratory for experimentation where informal yet rigorous strategy spaces took shape. These salons became a launchpad for our 2024 and 2025 Narrative Integration and Action work, offering movement leaders a space to workshop bold ideas and collaborate on narrative strategies that drive impact in the field.
Building from insights and practices developed in these salons, ReFrame’s Narrative Command Center served as a nerve center during the election season. Leveraging our weather station, the narrative research and action team published weekly blogs packed with insights and recommendations to help organizers and communicators cut through the noise.
The Command Center’s Signals in the Noise: Election Edition Strategy Clinics translated this research into action. With the expertise of narrative strategists nationwide, these clinics helped organizers break down the tactics behind anti-democratic narratives and mis- and disinformation, equipping them with stories rooted in hope, dignity, and collective power.”
The elections are over, but the work doesn’t stop here. These salons and strategy clinics have set the stage for the next phase of our Narrative Integration and Action efforts, ensuring that our movements stay ahead in a constantly shifting narrative landscape.
Help us keep this critical work going. Donate today to sustain the Narrative Command Center and support the next wave of narrative innovation. Together, we’re not just responding to the moment—we’re shaping it.
Looking Forward: Upcoming Narrative Research Reports
Our Narrative Research and Action team had a full plate this year, tackling some of the most polarized narrative terrains of our time. With support from the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, we explored the story trends, narratives, and values shaping the United Auto Workers union drives in Tennessee and Alabama. Meanwhile, in partnership with the Energy Foundation, we dove into the evolving and contested narratives surrounding electric vehicles as a vector for mis-and disinformation. Set to publish in early 2025; these reports will offer organizers and movement leaders the insights needed to navigate and shift the narrative landscapes around labor, unions, transportation alternatives and climate justice.
With your support, we can continue producing cutting-edge research that informs strategy and drives impact. Donate today to help sustain this critical work and ensure these reports reach the most needed movements.
Support ReFrame’s Vision for the Next Decade
As we look ahead to 2025 — and our 10th anniversary — we’re celebrating the incredible work we’ve done together and dreaming bigger than ever.
With your support, we can:
- Scale our Spanish-First trainings to reach more leaders across sectors and geographies
- Expand the ReFrame Academy model to build narrative power in more states
- Deepen our Signals in the Noise offerings, ensuring leaders can meet the moment with more research, more tools, and more strategy implementation
- Sustain bold initiatives like the Narrative Power Summit in September 2025
Your contributions fuel this work. Every dollar supports our vision of a world where narrative power builds freedom, justice, and liberation for all.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
.jpeg)
.png)
%20(1).png)
