Supporting People & Animal Relationships for Change

SPARC powers stories and narratives for the well-being of animals and people. We develop the building blocks for narrative change and how to make it part of our everyday lives.

Narrative is the meaning we get from stories. It comes from the details we include or leave out, the order of events, and what is emphasized or minimized. Narratives influence our beliefs and shape our understanding of the world.

‍Narrative change is when our ideas and beliefs shift because messages and stories around us provide a different understanding of a situation.

To do our best work for animals and people, we must be thoughtful and intentional about the content of the stories and messages we share. We must recognize harmful narratives and replace them with helpful ones.

Explore the power of narrative change through our Theory of Change...

Many mainstream stories spread negative stereotypes about people. Narratives are often polarizing. They create divisions amongst organizations and keep us disconnected from communities. Instead of focusing on the big systemic problems that impact people and animals, there is often a focus on individual shame and blame.

The wrong narratives can hold our work back and hurt animals and people. Better narratives help us move forward and support an environment where animals, people, and communities can thrive.

You work hard and care about helping animals.  At the same time, you face a mountain of challenges. Channeling precious time and resources into the most impactful efforts is essential.

Like all of us, you have spent your life surrounded by stories and messages. Many mainstream narratives make it difficult to work with people, uncover solutions, and help animals in the best way possible.

Through SPARC tools, training, and community, you will explore stories and messaging with a fresh lens. You will learn how narratives impact work in animal care and well-being and how you can make them better. You will build messaging skills that pave the way to human connection and more help for animals.  

Training is one piece of the support we share. Our mini-course is offered on a sliding scale from $75-$225.

The sliding scale honors different abilities to pay. We don’t want the price to prevent you from taking part. We ask organizations and individuals with large budgets to pay at the higher rates to keep the workshop accessible to all.

Learn more about the SPARC mini-course.

SPARC is a fiscally sponsored project of the Humane America Animals Foundation, a 501c3 registered charity. All of our funding comes from grants and donations.

We are especially grateful to the generosity of Life of Riley, a foundation that has made it possible for us to build SPARC from the ground up.