International Resource for Impact and Storytelling

Launched in 2021 by the Ford, Compton, and Skoll Foundations, International Resource for Impact and Storytelling (IRIS) is a donor collaborative focused on strengthening civil society through narrative strategies and creative storytelling for impact. A sponsored project of RPA, IRIS supports donor partners and field-led efforts to deepen integration between storytellers, movements, and civil society leaders with narrative analysis to promote advancement on social justice issues.

Independent storytellers, including filmmakers, visual journalists, and artists, are indispensable in a strong civil society. Their stories spark our imaginations, build moral courage, highlight our connectedness, and increase our understanding of the vulnerable among us. Today, they and the ecosystems they are part of are at risk. Historically under-resourced and marginalized, they face a crisis of survival in increasingly hostile societies where truth itself is under attack.

With emphasis on building knowledge and networks in Global South regions, IRIS seeks to change this, embracing a new era of technological innovation in a globally interconnected world.

Learn more about how IRIS uses storytelling to drive social change.