STORYCORPS INC

BROOKLYN, New York, 11217-2998 United States

Mission Statement

StoryCorps’ mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. We do this to remind one another of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters. At the same time, we are creating an invaluable archive for future generations. StoryCorps helps us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all—one story at a time.

About This Cause

StoryCorps is committed to the idea that everyone has an important story to tell and that everyone’s story matters. Founded in 2003 by Dave Isay, StoryCorps has given people of all backgrounds and beliefs, in thousands of towns and cities across America, the chance to record interviews about their lives. In the past 20 years, nearly 700,000 people in all 50 states have recorded with StoryCorps—a treasure trove of stories and experiences that reflect the vast range of American experiences and represent the wisdom of humanity. These recordings are collected in the U.S. Library of Congress and in StoryCorps’ free online archive which is now the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered. While our stories are broadcast weekly on NPR to over 12 million listeners, StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit, sharing select stories with the public through our podcast, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, wisdom and values; engender empathy and connection; and remind us how much more we have in common than what divides us. Annual surveys show our methods help people feel more connected, hopeful, and positive about humanity. The StoryCorps MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer we transformed into a traveling recording booth, crisscrosses the country year-round collecting stories of everyday people from hundreds of cities and towns nationwide. In 2015, StoryCorps launched a free mobile app that puts the StoryCorps experience entirely in the hands of users and enables anyone, anywhere to record meaningful conversations with another person and upload the audio to the Library of Congress. The StoryCorps app preserves the StoryCorps interview experience, while providing more access and convenience for participants. By providing platforms for everyday people to record and share their story for future generations, we underscore the idea that everyone’s story matters. StoryCorps is especially committed to capturing and amplifying voices least heard in the media and aims to gather these voices through a host of initiatives, including Military Voices, which shares the stories of veterans, service members, and military families, and StoryCorps Legacy, which provides people of all ages with serious illness—and their families—the opportunity to record, preserve, and share their stories. Past initiatives have included 9/11, which invites families that have been impacted by the events of 9/11 to record a memorial to a lost loved one; Griot, which preserves the voices and experiences of African Americans and those with roots in the African Diaspora living in America; Outloud, dedicated to documenting and sharing stories of LGBTQ+ Americans; and American Pathways, an initiative to record, preserve, and share the stories and experiences of refugees, asylees, immigrants, and Muslims living in America. One of StoryCorps’ most recent initiatives, One Small Step (OSS) is a multi-year initiative to help bridge the divisions in our country. OSS brings together strangers with opposing political views together for a conversation—not to debate politics—but to get to know each other as people. By collecting humanity’s stories one at a time, and bringing people together across differences, StoryCorps lays the groundwork to build empathy, understanding, and connection with each other. These experiences create meaningful opportunities for communities and society at large to bridge differences and shift harmful narratives big and small. StoryCorps’ newest initiative, Brightness in Black, collaborates with communities to collect and share joyous, ambitious and cultural stories, while countering harmful narratives about the Black experience in America. By sharing stories of hope, human potential and truths from lived experiences of everyday people, we challenge stereotypes and incomplete narratives. StoryCorps continues to evolve into an enduring national institution that fosters a culture of listening in the United States. In the coming years StoryCorps hopes to touch the lives of every American family.

STORYCORPS INC
80 Hanson Pl Ste 8
BROOKLYN, New York 11217-2998
United States
Phone 646-723-7020 x2105
Twitter @StoryCorps
Unique Identifier 133753011