Community Storytelling

Focus Areas
Film
Media Training
Immigrant Voices
Archives
Representation in Media
Community-Centered Journalism
Media Policy
Movement Media
BIPOC Stories
Collaborative Audio
Community Radio
LGBTQIA+

The Greater Philadelphia region is a hub for BIPOC-led grassroots media groups and projects with deep roots in the communities they serve. At the same time, they have to go through hoops to gain access to resources that would help them grow and strengthen their organizations, support the important role they play in their communities, and give them equal footing with white-led/mainstream media organizations.

IPMF believes that storytelling builds and strengthens community resilience and brings ideas to life. Through the Community Storytelling program, the foundation supports storytelling that centers, preserves, and highlights the complex experiences of diverse and marginalized communities through a lens of care and compassion. The program supports:

  • Projects or organizations that aim to increase the representation and visibility of storytelling by communities harmed by systems of oppression and media erasure. 
  • Independent filmmaking by emerging and professional storytellers to tell their own stories and share it with a wider audience. 
  • Community radio networks and collaborative audio storytelling that report, discuss, connect, and distribute news and stories important to neighborhoods in the region. 
  • New and existing archives, community history projects, and BIPOC stories that help communities deepen their connections, reclaim narratives, and build power. 
  • Projects or organizations that aim to increase local audience engagement with independent filmmaking, community storytelling and archives.

Examples of this work include:

  • BlackStar Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, a fellowship designed to support emerging Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers. 
  • Presente Media, a Latinx collective of journalists and filmmakers producing bilingual media focused on social justice. 
  • G-town Radio, a community radio station in Germantown focusing on local news, ideas, sounds not heard on mainstream radio.

See our glossary for definitions of terms we use to describe our work

What We Support

    Projects

    $15,500 - Awarded July 2020

    Focus areas
    Representation in Media
    Description

    The 2020 Community Voices grant will support the expansion of the “Hometown Heroes” project into a three-part editorial series that includes jazz profiles, resources for artists, and opportunities for local artists to address issues like COVID-19 and civil unrest.

    $50,000 - Awarded July 2020

    Focus areas
    Representation in Media
    Description

    The 2020 Community Voices grant will support the production of five documentaries and five podcast episodes created by community members in CCATE's filmmaking and podcast classes. These series will address the impact of immigration, health disparity, mental health and housing challenges on the Latinx community during COVID-19.

    $28,000 - Awarded July 2020

    Focus areas
    Community-Centered Journalism
    Description

    The 2020 Community Voices grant will support a pilot of a Credible Messenger Journalists program for individuals from communities impacted by gun violence to tell stories related to the experience of living with gun violence as well as identifying root causes and evidence-based solutions.

    $5,000 - Awarded July 2020

    Focus areas
    Representation in Media
    Youth
    Description

    The 2020 Community Voices grant will support the production of a collection of youth stories called “Voices from the Quarantine”. The book will contain more than 30 chapters of student writing about topics such as their experiences during COVID-19 and reflections on the racial justice movements occurring in Philadelphia.

    $45,100 - Awarded July 2020

    Focus areas
    Movement Media
    Immigrant Voices
    Community-Centered Journalism
    Description

    The 2020 Community Voices grant will support the launch of an independent news website of bilingual (English, Spanish, and/or Portuguese) investigative stories in the form of articles and videos. Working in collaboration with Philadelphia Latinx, immigrant, and communities of color, each story will be culturally competent with rigorous journalistic standards to expand the coverage of diverse and timely stories told by and for the community.

    Stay in Touch

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