Meet The Change Agents!

(L-R):Change Agents Grace Del Vecchio and Jeb Backe chat about the latest developments in journalism. (Photo by Judith McCray)

With the launch of Change Agents Season 3 comes opportunities to meet our Change Agents along with the community stakeholders who are featured in each episode at live in-person events in Chicago. Throughout the month of February, Change Agents will give an account of their storytelling journey, answer any lingering questions, share anecdotes left on the cutting room floor, and much more. 
 

February Change Agents events:

Thursday, Feb. 2:
Media Burn's Virtual Talks with Media Activists featuring journalist Jocelyn Martinez, activist Alden Bell (Justice That Heals) and executive producer Judith McCray. 6 - 7 p.m. CST. 

Register for this free event here.

Thursday, Feb. 23:
Lyte Collective, Bring Chicago Home Campaign featuring journalist Jeb Backe, activist Carl Wiley (On The Way Home) and executive producer Maurice Bisaillon. 

Friday, Feb. 24:
Qube - Queer News Podcast launch party featuring journalist Jeb Backe, activist Carl Wiley (On The Way Home) and executive producer Maurice Bisaillon.  The event started at 6:30 p.m. at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St.

Register for this free event here.
Invitation Only

Saturday, Feb. 25:
Grand opening of BUILD's Peace and Justice Center featuring journalist Leslie Hurtado, activist Alden Bell (Justice That Heals) and executive producer Maurice Bisaillon.
  

(L-R): Change Agents Executive Producer Maurice Bisaillon and Co-Founder of Centro Sanar Edwin Martinez share a drink and a laugh. (Photo by Judith McCray)

(Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Reader)

A Word From The Executive Producers:

After completion of every Change Agents season, we collaborate with our story partners to hold town hall-style community engagement events. These events bring the organization and its constituents together to listen to select segments of each episode to discuss available resources and solutions to the issues covered in the episodes throughout the season. 

Each town hall gives our CBO partners opportunities to use the episodes as organizing tools for social change. Each presentation raises awareness, stimulates discussion, and galvanizes action to address the communities at the core of the conversation.

These events are essential to Change Agents’ mission of countering the negative impact of legacy media publications. Mainstream media coverage of underserved communities often focuses on the negative, or worse, solidifies the damaging stereotypes of those communities. Studies show that the end result leaves underserved communities with a sense of hopelessness fueled by journalism that provides few, if any, solutions. The same studies show that solution-focused media leaves community members feeling more connected to their communities and more confident that they can come up with solutions when problems arise. 

Our town hall events are a chance to bring media created for our community-based partners directly to them, opening channels for productive dialogue and giving us insight into how we can improve the series. We’re excited that many of this season’s events will shift from virtual to live and in person!  We hope to see you at some of the ones mentioned above.  If you have any questions, let us know.

Change  Agents Season 3 Has Launched! 

You can listen to all the episodes on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Change Agents throughout Chicago are doing revolutionary work on behalf of their communities to change the narrative. Join us on Change Agents to hear their stories and discover the solutions that are underway.

Support Change Agents

We appreciate your interest in Change Agents and welcome your support in producing more stories of grassroots activism and social change. You can make a donation by selecting the DONATE button in the top right hand corner of our website OR click the following link to go directly to the page:
https://donorbox.org/change-agents?default_interval=o