Narrative 4 is a New York-based nonprofit that promotes the storytelling work of educators, artists, and students. ¹ The organization was listed on billionaire and left-of-center philanthropist Mackenzie Scott’s list of 116 organizations driving change in July 2020. ²

Background

Narrative 4 was founded in 2012 by a group of writers and activists and describes itself as a global network of educators, students, and artists that use storytelling to build empathy and connections with high school students across the world. ³ The organization says it works in 18 states across the United States and in 16 countries spanning four continents. ⁴

Narrative 4 was founded by veteran nonprofit executive Lisa Consiglio and Irish author Colum McCann. ⁵ The Narrative 4 global headquarters is in New York City, and the group maintains a second office in Limerick, Ireland. ⁶ Narrative 4 supports various events across the world and holds an annual global summit. ^{7 8}

The organization claims to focus on using storytelling to develop empathy and tolerance among high school students through peer-to-peer learning initiatives between students from very different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. This includes paring students from major metropolitan areas with students from very rural areas. ⁹

Story Exchange

The group established the Story Exchange program to help students develop in the arts and creativity. The exchange pairs individuals with one another to share a story that in some way defines them, and the organization claims to have facilitated thousands of exchanges around the world. ¹⁰

Through the program, one individual tells the other individual’s story by reading it in the first person. Narrative 4 claims that that the exchange of personal narratives can change the way people see themselves and the world, using the research as a foundation for the exchange initiative. ¹¹

Narrative 4 have paired students from a Bronx high school with students from a rural Kentucky high school and students from a wealthy Connecticut high school with students from a high school in a low-income area of Chicago. ¹²

Narrative 4 has established partnerships between students across the United States and also in Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom. ¹³ In 2018, the program reached 17,500 participants around the world with a partnership of 600 facilitators. ¹⁴

Aside from storytelling initiatives, Narrative 4 organizes the Empathy into Action program to promote grassroots community activism on environmentalism, interfaith communication, and immigration around the world. ^{15 16}

A University of Chicago study of the program determined that 81% of student participants in the Story Exchange had an increase in empathy while 91% said their perspectives expanded. ¹⁷

Major Donors

In January 2021, NBC Universal included Narrative 4 among 10 “social impact” nonprofits to which it donated a total of $100 million in grants. ¹⁸ Jackie Bezos, president of the Bezos Family Foundation, is a major donor to Narrative 4. ¹⁹

Separately, Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, included Narrative 4 among 116 organizations to which she contributed a total of $1.7 billion in July 2020. ²⁰

Political Issues

McCann, an author and co-founder of Narrative 4, weighed into the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2020 with the book Apeirogon, the story of how one Israeli man and one Palestinian man forged a bond after both of their daughters were killed. ²¹ The organization has also set up conferences between adults on differing sides of major political issues, including immigration, gun control, and the Israel-Palestine conflict. ²²

In 2016, Narrative 4 and New York Magazine sponsored a conference in New York on gun violence and brought people from across the country with differing perspectives on the gun control debate. In most cases, a Second Amendment activist or gun seller was paired up with a gun control activist or victim of a shooting for a conversation on gun control. ²³

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2. Scott, MacKenzie. “116 Organizations Driving Change.” Medium. July 28, 2020. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d
3. Narrative 4. Colum McCann. Accessed January 15, 2021. http://colummccann.com/narrative-4-main-page/
4. About. Narrative 4. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://narrative4.com/about/
5. Narrative 4. LinkedIn. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/company/narrative-4/
6. About. Narrative 4. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://narrative4.com/about/
7. Narrative 4. LinkedIn. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/company/narrative-4/
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12. Narrative 4. LinkedIn. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/company/narrative-4/
13. Narrative 4. Charles Koch Foundation. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://www.charleskochfoundation.org/story/narrative-4-lisa-consiglio-profile/
14. Narrative 4. Cause IQ. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/narrative-4,813268195/
15. Narrative 4. LinkedIn. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/company/narrative-4/
16. About. Narrative 4. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://narrative4.com/about/
17. Narrative 4. Cause IQ. Accessed January 15, 2021. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/narrative-4,813268195/
18. Sun, Rebecca. “NBC Universal Awards Grants to 10 Social Impact Nonprofits.” Hollywood Reporter. January 12, 2021. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbcuniversal-awards-grants-to-10-social-impact-nonprofits-exclusive
19. Epatko, Larisa. “The barrier-breaking power of learning someone else’s story.” PBS News Hour. July 13, 2017. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/barrier-breaking-power-learning-someone-elses-story
20. Scott, MacKenzie. “116 Organizations Driving Change.” Medium. July 28, 2020. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d
21. Davidson, Denise. “Author Colum McCann on politics and the art of peacemaking.” San Diego Union Tribune. March 8, 2020. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/books/story/2020-03-08/author-colum-mccann-on-politics-and-the-art-of-peacemaking
22. Lussenhop, Jessica. “Can a life-swap exercise stop a community tearing itself in two?” BBC. May 3, 2017. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39727185
23. Miller, Lisa. “Can a Gun Victim and a Gun Advocate Change Each Other’s Minds? An Experiment in Empathy.” New York Magazine. December 2016. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/12/gun-violence-radical-empathy.html?mid=nymag_press