The buzzwords you use have power. But who do they exclude?

Names build narratives. Narratives build movements. Think about terms, coined words and slogans that resonate with you — Black Lives Matter, social finance or climate justice. All of these have built narratives, mobilized millions of people, moved millions of dollars, shifted public policy, and changed priorities in leadership and governance tables. In order to realize transformational change in the causes you care about, changemakers must shape new and reshape old narratives that have dominated the social impact world and dominated public discourse. 

In the social impact world in particular, narratives are one way either power or scarcity is exercised (or maintained), one way possibilities are shut down or opened up. Narratives determine who’s seen as valuable, acceptable and risky. Our society is nearing the end of a set of narratives that have dominated the western wor