In 2016, we worked with The Aspen Institute and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, with funding from The Ford Foundation, to travel through the American South to tell the story of WealthWorks. WealthWorks is an economic development model that centers on strengthening assets rooted in local people, places, and projects.

Our Challenge

The WealthWorks model is complex, and each organization had a unique, multi-faceted story to tell about the value chain they had identified and built. The Wealthworks coordinators needed a partner to help share the individual efforts of each organization, many of who had been working for years to address difficult problems with the support of numerous partners. The challenge was to condense that work into a roughly 8-minute story that honored the challenges, passion, and culture of the communities and people involved. We had multiple states (Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Texas, Ohio, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Virginia) to visit and countless people to coordinate and interview.

 The Approach

We launched the project through research, working to understand the work in each region, and how we might capture it. Any assumptions on our end would have made us miss the real struggles, wins, and overall voices of those involved. By pre-interviewing the coordinators, participating individuals, and organizations before we hit the road, and arriving with full willingness to listen and learn, we were able to dig deep, gain access, and bring home stories that accurately honored the region. Coordinating production was an exhaustive effort that required diligence and courtesy.

“The communities we were working with have had their stories sensationalized many times. We worked hard to avoid that by closely partnering with our contacts in the communities, and assuming nothing. We asked a lot of questions, allowed ourselves to be guided, and asked permission. Our biggest compliment was that each organization felt their community and work were accurately and honestly portrayed.

- Amber Garvey, Vice President

 Results

Over the span of two years, we produced nine stories and developed additional training videos explaining how to adopt the WealthWorks model. The nine stories cover a range of work, from food to housing to textiles. Each is unique to the region where the work is taking place, and each have become important tools for the organizations to gain further support for their efforts. We developed messaging and stories to piece together the complex components of WealthWorks in a way that diverse audiences could engage with. Over 5 years later, many of the organizations are still finding value in the videos created, using them to continue to share their work and gain support.