Narrative 4 has announced a $25 million gift from the Bezos Family Foundation to encourage community engagement in thousands of schools across the United States.

Narrative 4 is a global nonprofit that uses the power of storytelling to encourage action and change among young people. The organization’s Story Exchange program is available virtually and in schools globally and involves a facilitator-guided exercise where students exchange, recount, and take on another’s story, building deep empathetic connections along the way. Narrative 4 aims to facilitate at least three million story exchanges in the next five years.

“This is a stunning gift that pays homage to the notion that our stories and our storytellers can change the world,” said Narrative 4 CEO Lisa Consiglio. “Thanks to the enormous support of the Bezos Family Foundation, we will be able to inspire countless young people to become the civic leaders of tomorrow. Narrative 4—which is supported by artists as diverse as Sting, Terry Tempest Williams, Marlon James, Gabriel Byrne, Ishmael Beah, and Lila Azam Zanganeh—was founded on the notion that stories are the building blocks of the world."

“I have always been inspired by the power of young people and storytellers,” said Bezos Family Foundation co-founder Jackie Bezos. “Change comes about by participating in and understanding the stories of other people. Narrative 4 does this in a profound way.”

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