Storytelling for Systemic Change

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe the concept of storytelling and explore its impact on systemic, individual, and community levels, particularly within the IDD-MH community
  2. Analyze how stories can be leveraged within START teams, advisory councils, and other platforms to promote collaboration, build community, and foster belonging
  3. Design strategies for using storytelling in their work at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels to drive systemic change and enhance community engagement

Session Description: 

Stories are part of the fabric of every facet of our lives. They are our history, our emotions, our experiences, and they are the foundation of the way we reflect and identify opportunities and need for change. Stories impact the way we think, feel, and relate to each other, as well as the actions we choose to take in our work and daily lives. This proposal will focus on how stories can be leveraged to make impacts on a systemic, individual, and community level as well as build belonging for the IDD-MH community. We will begin by describing what a story is then discussing how they can be leveraged on multiple levels including START teams, advisory councils, etc. to build community, promote collaboration and belonging, and achieve systemic change. We will actively engage participants in working through how to leverage stories in the work they do at the micro, mezzo, and macro level.

References:

Salter, L. K. (2020). Stories "matter": Storytelling as community learning within a whole systems approach to recovery. Murmurations, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.28963/3.1.1...

McDowell, K., & Cooke, N. A. (2022). Social Justice Storytelling: A pedagogical imperative. The Library Quarterly (Chicago), 92(4), 355-378. https://doi.org/10.1086/721391

Matos, A., Rocha, T., Cabral, L., Bessa, M., Mohamad, Y., Paredes, H., Barroso, J., Velasco, C., & Weber, G. (2015). Multi-sensory storytelling to support learning for people with intellectual disability: An exploratory didactic study. Procedia Computer Science, 67, 12-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proc...

Jillaine Baker, MTS, MSW, LCSW

Associate Director of Quality Assurance

National Center for START Services

Jillaine Baker is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with over 15 years of experience working with individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities in various capacities. Prior to joining the National Center for START Services, she was the Director of NC START Central and prior to that, a coordinator with the Central North Carolina team. Jillaine has experience practicing and training within the field of Mental Health and IDD, with emphasis on crisis response, systemic collaboration, quality assurance, and program development. She also holds a Master of Theological Studies, where she focused her research on theology and disability. Jillaine is an avid runner, running specifically (and serving on the board) for the Team Drea Foundation, a non-profit that supports bold, innovative research to find a cure or effective treatment for ALS. Jillaine lives in Durham, NC with her husband and two daughters.

Morgan Futrell, MS, MSW, LCSW

Quality Assurance Coordinator and Training Manager

National Center for START Services

Morgan Futrell, LCSW holds Master's degrees in both Criminology and Social Work from Florida State University and is a licensed clinical social worker and a certified START Coordinator. Morgan has experience working within START teams in varying capacities including a START Coordinator, Clinical Team Leader and Associate Clinical Director. As an National Center for START Services Quality Assurance Coordinator and Training Manager, Morgan works with START programs across the nation with maintaining START fidelity standards in all capacities of service provision and facilitating training opportunities for START Programs and those in our larger network.

Micah Peace Urquilla, B.A.

Research & Training Associate

National Center for START Services at the IOD at UNH

Micah Peace Urquilla is a multiply Disabled community organizer, educator, researcher, and a founding member of the Kentuckiana Autistic Spectrum Alliance (KASA), a peer support and social group by and for Neurodivergent Adults serving Central Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Micah is nearing a decade of service in the Disability community and has experienced working with other Disabled folks across the lifespan in a wide variety of roles and settings at the local, state, and national levels. They began their career as a Youth Independent Living Specialist at Louisville's Center for Accessible Living (CAL), where they developed expertise in peer-to-peer service delivery, curriculum design and universal design for learning (UDL), and systems advocacy. Today, they work at the National Center for START Services where they serve as a Co-Investigator of a PCORI-funded Telehealth study and work to uplift self-advocate voices and lived experiences in NCSS research, trainings, and other efforts. Micah's professional interests include participatory research and inclusive engagement; peer mentoring and other forms of popular education; and the intersections between I/DD, systemic experiences of oppression and marginalization, and trauma. Micah holds a B.A. in Integrative Studies with concentrations in Organizational Leadership, Social Justice, and Psychology from Northern Kentucky University (NKU.) They earned Kentucky Peer Support Specialist certification (KPS) in early 2025.

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05/13/2025 at 2:35 PM (EDT)  |  60 minutes
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