Interagency Task Force on the Arts & Human Development: Digital Storytelling

The May 30, 2012, Task Force webinar featured a presentation on the use of digital storytelling in Native Aspirations, a project supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Native Aspirations works with Native American and Alaska Native communities to help them build prevention programs to address youth violence, bullying and suicide. Native Aspirations has identified youth involvement and digital storytelling as transformative elements in community change. Youth create multimedia works of art to tell their stories of resilience and transformation. This webinar will introduce participants to the Native Aspirations approach, the use of digital storytelling in this approach and its relevance to Native populations and prevention. Sunil Iyengar, NEA director of the Office of Research & Analysis, opened the webinar with a brief update on the work of the Task Force. Michelle Carnes, Public Health Analyst, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, gave an overview of the Native Aspirations program and introduced the main presentation, a video on the Native Aspirations Digital Storytelling project. The webinar concluded with a Q&A session.