Storytelling Workshop A LinkedIn Transformation Grant with the Boys & Girls Club of SF Photographer: Dean Ichikawa http://www.linkedin.com/in/deanichikawa/

Storytelling Great ideas can transform the world. For centuries, the best way to communicate world-changing ideas has been through stories.

Imagine Youre a 15-year-old youth in the city of San Franciscobut you dont have the support you need at home

Your parents work not one, but two jobs to provide for the family. They rely on you at home to help feed and care for your younger brother and sister.

Imagine, you will be the first member of your family to go to college. So, youve taken the most advanced classes you can to do well, but the kids in those classes are different from you.

What will you do to build confidence and succeed in passing those courses and getting into a great college and eventually landing a great job?

What if Storytelling could support your success? Storytelling is a skill that helps foster young peoples character, personal growth and leadership qualities. It also helps them deliver more effective job and academic interviews.

A new workshop So, we went out and designed a workshop for the youth at the Boys & Girls Club to help them tell their story.

The first part of our project On Friday, February 28th, we spent time with the leaders at the Boys & Girls Club of SF. We invested in their development to help lead storytelling workshops at the Club.

Jonah Sachs Jonah kicked off our workshop. Hes a world renowned storyteller, entrepreneur and is the CEO of Free Range. Jonah told us the incredible story of his grandfather, who was awarded a bronze star in WWII.

The Heros Journey Jonah walked us through the three parts of all great stories.

Act 1: The Hero Setup Identify the environment, people and flaws from where the hero begins Introduce unfulfilled goals and begin building a turning point (call to adventure) Use your example

Act 2: The Hero Encounters Roadblocks Identify roadblocks that may prevent the hero from achieving his/her goals Begin thinking about how the hero can overcome roadblocks Use your hero as an example

Act 3: Emerge Transformed Introduce the concept of transformation Identify ways the hero overcame roadblocks and fulfilled goals Use your hero as an example

Cherie Carter Cherie is the Director of CoachArt, which is non-profit organization helping kids with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Cherie walked us through a Visual Life Map that one of the kids in the CoachArt program designed.

After the overview of what great stories look like, we divided into groups to create our own stories.

We developed characters and their story.

We learned a lot about one another and had some fun.

In the village of OTeng, in China, lived a little girl, named Yow Cheng, who like every women of stature had her feet bound at an early age as a symbol of daintiness. At the age of 5, however, she rebelled and refused to have her feet bound. She became an outcast in the family and the village. However, one day there was fire in the attic and the only person who could climb the ladder to save the ancestral home was Yow Cheng. Since that day, she got the respect from her family, her peers and was empowered to accomplish amazing things, her own way and live the life shes chosen for herself.

We will roll this program out to many of the youth at Boys & Girls Club of SF in a series of workshops throughout the year. Next Play

Natasha Alani Natasha is a Director at the Boys & Girls Club. I called her one morning in January with this idea. She embraced it and was central to pulling this program together.

Thanks to the folks at Boys & Girls Club of SF. Your work inspires us. Thank you for joining us for our first youth storytelling workshop.

Special Thanks Natasha Alani and the team at the Boys & Girls Club of SF Jonah Sachs, CEO of Free Range Laura Wall Klieves, VP Academy and Marketing, Duarte Cherie Carter, Director, CoachArt LinkedIn for Good for your generosity LinkedIn Team members Aurelia Setton, Michelle Kloberdanz, Jill Sida, Shannon Kato, Jordan Wolf, Rajon Tumbokon, Dean Ichikawa, Kayla Rosen, Brett Wallace