Bring The OpEd Project to You
The OpEd Project’s mission is to change who writes history. We partner with organizations of all sizes and from across industries and fields to diversify knowledge and accelerate solutions to society’s greatest challenges.
Our interactive and inspiring programs vary in length and commitment level but are all based on time-tested models of transformational learning. Unlocking knowledge in powerful and unexpected ways, they cultivate a greater sense of social responsibility by clarifying our potential impact on the world. We have stunning results.
FOCUS
We are keen to partner with all kinds of groups, especially those working towards one or more of our pillars/core areas of focus:
Gender Justice
Racial Justice
Public Health Justice
Climate Justice & Solutions
Media & Democracy Justice & Solutions
OUTCOMES
For organizations looking to elevate and amplify the voices, ideas and experiences of underrepresented team or community members, The OpEd Project provides a unique set of programs that go far beyond writing or communication skills. We provide high-level professional development and capacity building for historically overlooked leaders, with the following outcomes:
Concrete results, measured in published op-eds, stories of personal transformation and public impact
Greater sense of self-efficacy, agency and possibility among your team or community members
Increased individual and organizational visibility and prestige through the public-facing thought leadership of participants
Unique organizational storytelling opportunity for recruitment and retention of top underrepresented talent
Connection for individuals and organizations to a robust and vibrant thought leadership ecosystem around social justice and public impact
Accelerated ability for team to attract resources and deliver on organizational mission
WHO WE WORK WITH
We work with universities, foundations, non-profits, community groups and corporations across a wide spectrum. Some partners are here.
PROGRAM OPTIONS
We deliver programs for our partners across the nation and globe - everything from offering packages of virtual seats in our existing community workshops, to large group keynote experiences to private workshops to multi-year fellowships. Below are our most commonly run programs. Pricing depends on several factors including whether virtual or in person, frequency and length of program, number of participants, and type of organization or institution (we work on a sliding scale). Please contact us to learn more.
+ PACKAGE OF VIRTUAL SEATS IN COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS (CORE + ADVANCED)
+ 1 month access to our Mentor-Editors for individual follow up support upon completion of workshop
Virtual: 10 people minimum; usually 2 sessions of 3.5 hours each over 2 days. Schedule here.
For organizations seeking maximum organizational flexibility and individual convenience while providing substantial capacity building, we now offer a package of virtual seats in upcoming Write to Change the World workshops (can also be used for the Advanced workshop if participants are already alums of the core workshop). The partner’s community members (faculty, leadership, grantees, students, etc.) can register for a workshop whenever is best for them over a period of up to 6 months. Participants experience the same curriculum as a private workshop with minimal partner effort and have the added benefit of getting to test their ideas in diverse rooms of highly motivated and inspiring professionals, many of whom are also sponsored by their institution or organization, and serve as a great proxy for editors and the public.
Participants leave with an outline of an op-ed in hand, and access to our national network of journalist mentors for individual follow up (which doubles their chances of successful publication).
+ Premium Sponsorship Package
Seats in our Core or Advanced Workshop (alums of core only)
+ 1 month access to our Mentor-Editors for individual follow up support upon completion of workshop
1 year of institutional membership for community members
Our Premium Sponsorship package includes both virtual seats in the core “Write to Change the World” workshop, and a year of follow-on support through our Institutional Membership program. This powerful combination offers participants both the catalyst of an intensive, workshop experience and the tools to maintain the momentum and motivation generated for a year following their transformative workshop. This package is optimal for organizations aiming to support both a new and a previous cohort of Write to Change the World participants—new participants have the option to enroll in the core workshop while alumni can choose to utilize their workshop seats for the advanced workshop.
+ PRIVATE WORKSHOP: WRITE TO CHANGE THE WORLD (CORE)
For organizations and institutions looking to offer a single opportunity scheduled solely for their community (faculty, leadership, grantees, students, etc.)
+1 month access to our Mentor-Editors for individual follow up support upon completion of workshop
30 people minimum
Virtual: 2 sessions, each of 3.5 hours, over 2 days
In person: 1-day (1.5-day featuring supplementary content also possible)
In this highly dynamic, energetic and interactive workshop, we challenge participants to think in new and bigger ways about what they know, why it matters, and how to use it. We explore how credibility works and how to establish it; how to present ideas quickly and powerfully under pressure; the components of powerful, evidence-based argument; when and why people change their minds; and the difference between being “right” and being effective. We use op-eds as an action step, but the framework and curriculum can apply to any place where participants seek to have an impact - at their university or organization, in business, in political office, and beyond.
Participants leave with an outline of an op-ed in hand, and access to our national network of journalist mentors for individual follow up (which doubles their chances of successful publication).
+ PRIVATE WORKSHOP: ACCELERATING IDEAS (ADVANCED)
+1 month access to our Mentor-Editors for individual follow up support upon completion of workshop
30 people minimum
Virtual: 2 sessions of 3.5 hours each over 2 days/In person: 1-day
*All participants must have completed “Write to Change the World.”
This workshop is a sequel to our core Write to Change the World workshop (a prerequisite), and taps into the power in seeing your ideas as part of a bigger picture.
Based on high-level collaboration, this workshop brings previously explored themes together to see how we can connect the dots between disparate ideas, fields, geographies, and time periods. We test hunches and play cross-pollination games. We explore the source of innovative thinking (where do good ideas come from?); and we experiment around timing and timeliness with the goal of stirring creative thinking and discovering unlikely, yet authentic, connections across people, time and space.
This program is designed to produce concrete results, and culminates in a large group experiment in which participants come together to produce a publishable op-ed in 15 minutes. An excellent way to facilitate connection and community-building within a group!
Participants leave with an outline of an op-ed in hand, and access to our national network of journalist mentors for individual follow up (which doubles their chances of successful publication).
+ FOUNDER’S KEYNOTE: OWNING EXPERTISE
Interactive talk by Katie Orenstein, OpEd Project Founder & CEO
Virtual or in person: recommended for 50-1000 people
Duration: 60 or 90 minutes (two options)
Led by our founder and CEO, this interactive keynote workshop is a live experiment, best for groups of 100+, in which we explore how credibility works and how ideas and individuals rise. It presents data on the demographics of public discourse and the ecosystem of ideas, and addresses core questions of thought leadership: what do we know, why does it matter, and how can we maximize our impact? Participants will walk away with bold ideas, a deeper sense of what they as well as their colleagues know and stand for, and actionable steps. A good introduction to The OpEd Project for large organizations and companies.
+ PUBLIC VOICES FELLOWSHIP
Institutional Partnership for a 20-person cohort of fellows
Virtual Year-long fellowship by default
This is our highest-impact program, intended for individuals and institutions committed to bigger, long-term results and enduring social change. The goal of this program is to transform a cadre of exceptional thinkers (with emphasis on underrepresented voices, including women) into public intellectuals whose knowledge and influence transcends industries and institutions, to shape the important public conversations of our day. Participants convene in person for day-long seminar events throughout the fellowship and are matched with Journalist Mentors, who work with them for the duration of the fellowship to encourage, coach, edit and support participants in achieving concrete results (op-eds and much more). Participants receive weekly customized email prompts, and join monthly calls with media thought leaders. By partnering with us in this way, institutions typically see value in these ways: (1) increased visibility/prestige; (2) enhanced satisfaction and retention of talent, especially underrepresented (including female) talent; (3) more innovation, driven by intentional cross-pollination across colleagues and disciplines. Institutions strengthen their internal talent pool, increase their institution’s public presence through the voices of their own leadership and community, and help change the demographics of voice in the world. More details about the Public Voices Fellowship is here.
+ STORY CAMPAIGN
Virtual: 50 people minimum; contact us for more information
Through our Story Campaign initiative, we serve and elevate a large group of voices, or viewpoints, within a concentrated time frame. Story Campaigns focus on elevating voices that are timely, vital and need to be heard. Typically, Story Campaigns focus on elevating a significant number of voices in a community that may not be geographically located in one place, or linked by a single organization, or able to convene at a single time. Story Campaigns are a highly effective way to amplify a mission, cause or organization through the voices of the community (rather than through a central spokesperson).