"Good Stories. New Friends. No Zoom."

That's how one participant summed up JFN West's Be the Story, as part of a final assignment to share a six-word story about the gathering this Monday and Tuesday in Los Angeles.

At Be the Story, JFN West's first-ever in-person regional convening, 50 JFN West members from throughout the JFN West region reconnected with peers, networked with colleagues, and learned new skills.

“There was so much excitement in the air as our members greeted new and longtime friends after being apart for the last few years,” said JFN West Director Tzivia Schwartz Getzug. "Even the most seasoned storytellers learned and practiced new skills to effectively communicate with their trustees, donors, collaborators, and others.”

As Andy Goodman of The Goodman Center demonstrated, good storytelling is the most memorable and impactful way to share information. In workshops with Goodman and other master storytellers, like Producer Roberta Grossman, JFN West members received training, practice, and tools that will enable them to more effectively talk about and promote the causes they fund.

We'll be sharing more photos, videos, and other resources in the coming weeks. And this week's gathering was just the beginning of the story. JFN will be bringing together the JFN West community (and possibly the larger international JFN community) for follow-up programs on philanthropic storytelling. Please stay tuned for more details. 

JFN West serves JFN members from California to Texas and the Canadian West. Be the Story was JFN West's first in-person regional convening and its second regional convening. In December of 2020, JFN West's online "When the Smoke Clears" drew 110 participants.