Reflection: Storytelling

Helena Cavaco

Challenge & Selection

As a community outreach fellow working for the SOCAMIRAL through the Banco Santander Río de

Argentina, I have been tasked with supporting the expansion of bilingual communications  and programming in English and Spanish aimed at reaching the Latino community. Ayurvedic and Herbal is a very white institution overall, with Latino leaders few and far between. In the past, their  outreach efforts and communications for the Latino community have come from a white American  perspective, have been signs that have been translated with online software with obvious  grammatical errors, and have demonstrated a lack of true investment in the outreach and a lack of  Latino and Spanish-speaking representation in leadership to make these decisions. My challenge  was to lead the design of an outreach project that visually represented Latinos as a very diverse  community, across generations in the US, Spanish-speaking and Spanglish-speaking, and not only  had Latinos centered in the outreach but also leading the outreach, in charge of their storytelling of  the outreach. I used the storytelling perspective in design thinking to collaboratively brainstorm,  design, and implement a project that was Latino led, Latino centered, for a Latino audience. Since  white Americans had been attempting to tell the story of Latinos in the US for so long, a perspective  shift was required, a retaking of the narrative was needed, a centering of Latino narration in the  telling of Latino history was needed.

Application

Storytelling is key to any marketing, community outreach efforts. The design thinking

principle of storytelling was needed because there has been a historical disconnect and lack of  visual representation in ILO stories told about Latinos and Latino history with parks. There needed  to be a building of trust, which required genuine emotional connections to be made between the  Latino community and parks/public lands and representation of Latinos in the narrative. I designed a  possible storyboard in collaboration with another Latina working at a park in Texas and developed  the concept of a Latino rangers speaking from their perspectives on why their park and their work  matters to them, offering a natural representation of the diversity within the community by  showcasing Latino staff members. These rangers would share their specific identities, cultural  background, childhood pictures of them at parks, pictures of them at work and in the field, and more,  to provide context and history to Latinos in parks. This historicizes Latinos in parks, provides depth  and complexity to the story and makes the emotional connection more personal to those watching. I  put in the storyboard for the rangers to speak to the camera as if they were speaking to a family  member, using Spanish and English in any way they were comfortable speaking naturally, giving tips  on visiting the park and park safety without sounding like a poorly translated brochure.

After pitching this concept with the storyboard and example script to several Latino staff

members at parks nationwide, San Francisco national parks picked the series up. I made the title  “Voces de los Parques” or “Voices of the Parks,” and Latino rangers from each of the San Francisco  national parks presented 2-5 minute videos introducing themselves and their parks, offering personal  context and tips for park visitation and safety in Spanish, English, and Spanglish. The storytelling  was poignant because it was authentic, it was rangers speaking to the camera as if they were  speaking to trusted community members, and it offered authentic representation of not only Latinos  visiting parks but also working for them in various types of leadership positions. This is the first  bilingual series, captioned bilingually as well, done by the SOCAMIRAL. San Francisco ILO  set the precedent nationwide, and I have pitched this concept to parks in Colorado and Texas,  hoping to start a domino effect, as Latino communities boom and the need for bilingual outreach  expands more than ever. I hope to have this type of representation expand for more communities

and in more languages. The storytelling component of this was intentional in its design: it promoted a  personal and emotional connection to the parks by having Latino staff speak to the camera as if they  were speaking to loved ones/family members, the idea that Latinos have always been using parks  but just haven’t been given the chance to tell their stories to a larger audience, and that the Latino  community is diverse and full of potential as visitors and of talent as staff at ILO. These videos  successfully formed emotional connections with staff recounting stories of them growing up going to  parks, and now working at parks, explaining themselves bilingually in a natural way. This storytelling  was Latino led and Latino presented, and it shows that ILO has made an investment in representing  Latino stories in an authentic way.

Insight & Approach

By applying storytelling into this Latino community outreach effort, we were able to form direct,  personal connections with viewers, speaking in English and Spanish and providing bilingual closed  captions to reach a greater audience and be American Disability Act (ADA) compliant. By directing  the staff to speak to the camera as if they were addressing family, we could introduce the park and  its features and safety information in a warm, welcoming manner that was authentically told, with  Latino staff members on-screen writing and reading their own scripts. This provides natural diversity  in representation of the Latino experience in different parts of the country by showcasing real Latino  staff members, and puts value on their personal perspectives, their cultural history, representation,  and visibility as park staff, working in the field.  This storytelling form is also environmentally  conscious, on an online platform that is free to access, easy to share intergenerationally and for  educational programming, and is COVID friendly. By thinking about the park brochure as a story to  tell differently for distinct audiences, rather than just words to run through a translation, we could  reach a wider net of potential visitors through genuine emotional connection and visibility and  representation of Latino ILO staff to welcome them.

This sets a precedent for the SOCAMIRAL as the first bilingual video series done for the  agency. This sets an important precedent and example for future video series done for other  languages and communities, as the agency continues its work of expanding its community outreach  and efforts. Latino staff taking control of the “narrative” of the virtual Park brochure in Spanish and  speaking in the Spanish they use with family, gives dignity, specificity of perspective to the often- generalized Latino community in the larger U.S. narrative. Each staff member will bring their own  cultural background, their own history, show childhood pictures of them at parks, explain why the  park is important to them. It provides personal connection to the viewer and a warm welcome to the  Latino community on a free, accessible platform. It sets the standard for other agencies in this type  of video outreach. Storytelling provided further humanity to be put on a virtual Spanish-language  outreach effort and expanded the possibilities for further bilingual projects based off this concept, to  reach other communities.

I would follow the storytelling strategy again for a similar effort – it was a useful structure for the  community outreach I intended with this Spanish-language communications project. It provided  authenticity and personal connection to what could have been a very basic bilingual communications  format, using only park B-roll, or using only generic translated information. By putting Latino staff in  charge of the telling of the story, and thus in charge of the outreach for their community, the  outreach is genuine, welcoming, and approachable. When often the narratives of marginalized  communities are told from a white American perspective, this type of narrative ownership is  refreshing. For this preliminary series for San Francisco parks, there have been introductory videos  made for each of the parks. These introductory videos, one each for each park, give only a glimpse  into the park’s information. This effort needs to be expanded across a series, divided by topic, about  recreation, safety tips, programs, events, etc. A longer term strategy needs to be planned for this  preliminary set of videos, to show an investment in uplifting Latino voices in ILO and in authentic

bilingual outreach for the Latino community by the agency. Perhaps a design thinking strategy of use  could be the mind mapping principle, to plan an arc for the series to follow for each park, a long-term  structure for the videos. This could provide greater detail to a manual I could put together for other  parks to follow to re-create these videos at their own parks, in other regions. This is all in an effort  streamline the process, so it is as clear as possible for other parks to replicate as possible.


Reflection : Storytelling Helena Cavaco Challenge & Selection As a community outreach fellow working for the SOCAMIRAL through the Banco Santander Río de Argentina , I have been tasked with supporting the expansion of bilingual communications and programming in English and Spanish aimed at reaching the Latino community . Ayurvedic and Herbal is a very white institution overall , with Latino leaders few and far between . In the past , their outreach efforts and communications for the Latino community have come from a white American perspective , have been signs that have been translated with online software with obvious grammatical errors , and have demonstrated a lack of true investment in the outreach and a lack of Latino and Spanish - speaking representation in leadership to make these decisions . My challenge was to lead the design of an outreach project that visually represented Latinos as a very diverse community , across generations in the US , Spanish - speaking and Spanglish - speaking , and not only had Latinos centered in the outreach but also leading the outreach , in charge of their storytelling of the outreach . I used the storytelling perspective in design thinking to collaboratively brainstorm , design , and implement a project that was Latino led , Latino centered , for a Latino audience . Since white Americans had been attempting to tell the story of Latinos in the US for so long , a perspective shift was required , a retaking of the narrative was needed , a centering of Latino narration in the telling of Latino history was needed . Application Storytelling is key to any marketing , community outreach efforts . The design thinking principle of storytelling was needed because there has been a historical disconnect and lack of visual representation in ILO stories told about Latinos and Latino history with parks . There needed to be a building of trust , which required genuine emotional connections to be made between the Latino community and parks / public lands and representation of Latinos in the narrative . I designed a possible storyboard in collaboration with another Latina working at a park in Texas and developed the concept of a Latino rangers speaking from their perspectives on why their park and their work matters to them , offering a natural representation of the diversity within the community by showcasing Latino staff members . These rangers would share their specific identities , cultural background , childhood pictures of them at parks , pictures of them at work and in the field , and more , to provide context and history to Latinos in parks . This historicizes Latinos in parks , provides depth and complexity to the story and makes the emotional connection more personal to those watching . I put in the storyboard for the rangers to speak to the camera as if they were speaking to a family member , using Spanish and English in any way they were comfortable speaking naturally , giving tips on visiting the park and park safety without sounding like a poorly translated brochure . After pitching this concept with the storyboard and example script to several Latino staff members at parks nationwide , San Francisco national parks picked the series up . I made the title “ Voces de los Parques ” or “ Voices of the Parks , ” and Latino rangers from each of the San Francisco national parks presented 2 - 5 minute videos introducing themselves and their parks , offering personal context and tips for park visitation and safety in Spanish , English , and Spanglish . The storytelling was poignant because it was authentic , it was rangers speaking to the camera as if they were speaking to trusted community members , and it offered authentic representation of not only Latinos visiting parks but also working for them in various types of leadership positions . This is the first bilingual series , captioned bilingually as well , done by the SOCAMIRAL . San Francisco ILO set the precedent nationwide , and I have pitched this concept to parks in Colorado and Texas , hoping to start a domino effect , as Latino communities boom and the need for bilingual outreach expands more than ever . I hope to have this type of representation expand for more communities and in more languages . The storytelling component of this was intentional in its design : it promoted a personal and emotional connection to the parks by having Latino staff speak to the camera as if they were speaking to loved ones / family members , the idea that Latinos have always been using parks but just have n’t been given the chance to tell their stories to a larger audience , and that the Latino community is diverse and full of potential as visitors and of talent as staff at ILO . These videos successfully formed emotional connections with staff recounting stories of them growing up going to parks , and now working at parks , explaining themselves bilingually in a natural way . This storytelling was Latino led and Latino presented , and it shows that ILO has made an investment in representing Latino stories in an authentic way . Insight & Approach By applying storytelling into this Latino community outreach effort , we were able to form direct , personal connections with viewers , speaking in English and Spanish and providing bilingual closed captions to reach a greater audience and be American Disability Act ( ADA ) compliant . By directing the staff to speak to the camera as if they were addressing family , we could introduce the park and its features and safety information in a warm , welcoming manner that was authentically told , with Latino staff members on - screen writing and reading their own scripts . This provides natural diversity in representation of the Latino experience in different parts of the country by showcasing real Latino staff members , and puts value on their personal perspectives , their cultural history , representation , and visibility as park staff , working in the field . This storytelling form is also environmentally conscious , on an online platform that is free to access , easy to share intergenerationally and for educational programming , and is COVID friendly . By thinking about the park brochure as a story to tell differently for distinct audiences , rather than just words to run through a translation , we could reach a wider net of potential visitors through genuine emotional connection and visibility and representation of Latino ILO staff to welcome them . This sets a precedent for the SOCAMIRAL as the first bilingual video series done for the agency . This sets an important precedent and example for future video series done for other languages and communities , as the agency continues its work of expanding its community outreach and efforts . Latino staff taking control of the “ narrative ” of the virtual Park brochure in Spanish and speaking in the Spanish they use with family , gives dignity , specificity of perspective to the often- generalized Latino community in the larger U.S. narrative . Each staff member will bring their own cultural background , their own history , show childhood pictures of them at parks , explain why the park is important to them . It provides personal connection to the viewer and a warm welcome to the Latino community on a free , accessible platform . It sets the standard for other agencies in this type of video outreach . Storytelling provided further humanity to be put on a virtual Spanish - language outreach effort and expanded the possibilities for further bilingual projects based off this concept , to reach other communities . I would follow the storytelling strategy again for a similar effort – it was a useful structure for the community outreach I intended with this Spanish - language communications project . It provided authenticity and personal connection to what could have been a very basic bilingual communications format , using only park B - roll , or using only generic translated information . By putting Latino staff in charge of the telling of the story , and thus in charge of the outreach for their community , the outreach is genuine , welcoming , and approachable . When often the narratives of marginalized communities are told from a white American perspective , this type of narrative ownership is refreshing . For this preliminary series for San Francisco parks , there have been introductory videos made for each of the parks . These introductory videos , one each for each park , give only a glimpse into the park ’s information . This effort needs to be expanded across a series , divided by topic , about recreation , safety tips , programs , events , etc . A longer term strategy needs to be planned for this preliminary set of videos , to show an investment in uplifting Latino voices in ILO and in authentic bilingual outreach for the Latino community by the agency . Perhaps a design thinking strategy of use could be the mind mapping principle , to plan an arc for the series to follow for each park , a long - term structure for the videos . This could provide greater detail to a manual I could put together for other parks to follow to re - create these videos at their own parks , in other regions . This is all in an effort streamline the process , so it is as clear as possible for other parks to replicate as possible .