Roots & Recipes:
Stories of Culture, Migration, and Memory
This youth-led storytelling initiative centered on food, identity, and the migration experience. The project was funded through 2892 Miles to Go, a National Geographic–supported program dedicated to narrative change and community-based storytelling.
What We Did
As part of 2892 Miles to Go, a National Geographic–supported initiative focused on youth storytelling and community resilience, Empowered Solutions Collective was selected as the local provider.
We partnered with nonprofit and school-based collaborators including United We March Forward and The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success, to support students in documenting stories at the intersection of environmental justice, food systems, and community and family history.
ESC’s scope of work included project coordination, curriculum and framework development, facilitation, and support for public-facing storytelling and community dialogue.
Discovery
The project launched with a discovery phase centered on listening and relationship-building with partner organizations and students.
ESC worked with partners and students to review existing community narratives, identify gaps in representation, and understand the lived experiences most often missing from environmental and food systems conversations.
This included early listening sessions with students and community partners, as well as alignment with 2892 Miles to Go program goals to ensure the project was both locally grounded and nationally relevant.
What We Learned
Several core insights shaped the direction of the project:
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Young people hold deep, nuanced understanding of environmental and food justice issues rooted in their own families and neighborhoods.
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Existing narratives often overlook cultural memory, migration stories, and everyday resilience.
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Students want creative control and authentic platforms to share their stories, not extractive research processes.
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Community storytelling can serve as both education and healing when done collaboratively and respectfully.
What We Made
Facilitation & Youth Engagement
ESC facilitated student workshops focused on storytelling ethics, narrative development, and connecting personal experience to broader systems like food access and environmental change.
Framework & Curriculum Development
Custom storytelling frameworks were developed to support multimedia expression, including audio and visual presentation, while centering cultural relevance and consent.
Project Coordination & Partner Support
ESC coordinated across nonprofit partners, students, and other subcontractors to align timelines, expectations, and deliverables, ensuring youth leadership remained central throughout the process.
Public Showcase & Community Dialogue
The project culminated in public-facing showcases and presentations that invited community members to engage with student stories and reflect collectively on resilience, justice, and place.
Results and Outcomes
The project resulted in a collection of youth-led stories that elevated local voices and experiences often excluded from dominant narratives.
Students developed leadership, research, and communication skills, while community partners gained new tools for engaging youth in environmental justice work.
The project strengthened cross-sector collaboration, increased the visibility of youth perspectives, and demonstrated the power of storytelling as both data and dialogue.
Ready to Implement Youth-led Storytelling or Community-centered Environmental Justice?
Get in touch with Empowered Solutions Collective to explore how this approach could support your school, nonprofit, or community initiative.