About Story Stitch
In 2018, Green Card Voices together with 70 community members co-created Story Stitch, a conversation card game. Our goal was to build deep connections between immigrants and their neighbors by telling stories, opening minds, and encouraging people to get to know one another. The hope is that this card game will foster deeper conversation, and generate a breakthrough on how immigrants are perceived, treated, and accepted.
Since the co-creation, as the want and need to connect with others in an authentic way has continued to grow, Story Stitch has evolved to fit the needs of the communities that need it. In 2019, Green Card Voices developed the “Story Stitch Facilitator Training” which trains individuals to facilitate circles of Story Stitch within their communities, work spaces, etc. In December of 2020, the Story Stitch Facilitator E-Course was released as a way for individuals to become a trained Story Stitch Facilitator on their own time through an online course.
In March 2020, at the height of the pandemic when the need to connect became even more apparent, Green Card Voices co-created Virtual Story Stitch. Virtual Story Stitch allows for individuals to share stories the same way as they would with the physical card deck but in a virtual setting.
Discover our Story Stitch Programs
Green Card Voices’ team of experienced Story Stitch facilitators has, in the past two years, facilitated over 50 in-person Story Stitch circles (ranging from 10-250 persons at one time) for very diverse partners and clients including The Department of Public Instruction event for Wisconsin teachers and 2019 New Leaders cohort with Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce.
The Green Card Voices team and our Certified Story Stitch Facilitators have been also been facilitating successfully in a virtual setting due to COVID dynamics. In March 2020, we co-created and designed a Virtual Story Stitch conversation game that is played via Zoom and uses breakout rooms (each breakout room has its own certified Story Stitch facilitator and up to eight participants). We have successfully facilitated virtual Story Stitch for multiple clients including University of Minnesota, Biology Dept. and Welcoming Week in Central Minnesota.
With the help of the generous Marbrook Foundation grant, we recently developed the Story Stitch e-course. This training is offered through the online, e-course platform, Teachable. A new, interactive training, which includes videos of the trainers, demonstrations, practice activities, resources, and opportunities to test your knowledge, allows individuals to become a certified Story Stitch Facilitator on their own time and schedule regardless of geographical location. The e-course takes approximately 5 hours to complete. The e-learning course is accessed through Teachable, the top interactive platform for online courses and coaching services.
Upon completion, participants receive a certificate from Green Card Voices and gain access to our Facilitator Tool Kit. Participants who complete the Certification Activity will have their name added to the Certified Story Stitch Facilitator list on the Green Card Voices Website.
After many thousands of brave, empathetic conversations, Green Card Voices release Story Stitch: The Printable Deck. We want to put this story sharing game into even more hands, faster, and in many different languages, so people can share their stories most authentically.
Story Stitch: The Printable Deck provides an affordable, on-demand way to make the conversation card game available to people worldwide. The printable format provides users with a quick and easy way to access multilingual versions of the game as well as an easy “do-it-yourself” way to print and create multiple card decks.
Everyone has a story to share. We wanted to design a way to facilitate the exchange of stories between immigrants and refugees, and their new neighbors.
Story Stitch was created to serve as a guided storytelling activity that connects and builds empathy between people of different cultural backgrounds, through the art of storytelling.
This card game is perfect for classrooms (ages 10+), diversity trainings, workshops, workplaces, leaderships/fellow retreated, conferences, elderly homes, and more.
In March 2020, responding to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we co-created again and came up with a virtual version of the game to stay connected, share our stories, and feel less isolated during the time of social distancing. Virtual Story Stitch is a storytelling activity that virtually connects people from different cultural backgrounds and geographic locations by using a Zoom platform through the computer or phone. In addition to our 33 questions, we have 7 bonus questions pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also created an abbreviated version with 20 questions total. While Virtual Story Stitch can be played by groups of people on their own, our experience has shown that the best results come when the circles are facilitated by a trained facilitator. A 5-hour long training is provided by Green Card Voices through Zoom or Teachable E-Course.
Since the creation of the Story Stitch Facilitator Training, Green Card Voices has successfully trained over 120 facilitators! Our facilitators are based in various countries including Germany and South Korea, and various states within the US including California, New York, Minnesota, and more!
By becoming a certified Story Stitch Facilitator, you’ll receive a certificate from Green Card Voices and gain access to our Facilitator Tool Kit. Participants who complete the Certification Activity will have their name added to the Certified Story Stitch Facilitator list on the Green Card Voices Website.