A STORYTELLING COMPETITION
Cultiv8 Hope
Thank you for voting!
Over the past few months, our students have been exploring and expressing what hope means to them through creative projects. They uploaded their projects for the community to weigh in and vote for the ideas that resonated most for this generation. And, the community showed up with 937 votes. The community votes served as a vehicle to help us identify to whose project to name the winner of this competition. Take a look at our youth submissions to hear from them. Together, believe it or not, we’re Cultiv8ing Hope for our next generation!
A HOPE-BUILDING INITIATIVE FOR YOUTH
Let's Build Hope for our next generation of leaders . . . TOGETHER!
Our Empowered Uth: Cultiv8 Hope Initiative reaches Philadelphia-area BIPOC high school students age 13-18, with an opportunity to activate youth voices by weighing in on what HOPE means to them, and ways the adults in their lives can support their hopes and aspirations.
We’re activating youth voices, accelerating change, igniting teamwork, spurring innovation, and breaking down barriers to involvement. There are many reasons for our youth to lose hope, but we have created this initiative to hear directly from Philly-area youth.
By launching a visual storytelling competition inviting over 50 youth participants to partner up and develop a creative body of work around “building hope for their generation,” we get to hear directly from them and make investments in the areas where they want to cultivate hope. We can’t wait to learn from our youth how to better support them in the areas identified.
We have a few questions...
1. What do you hope for?
2. What gets in the way of what you HOPE for?
3. In what ways can the adults in your life better support your hopes and dreams?
What it is . . .
Activating Youth Voices
We need YOU to team up with a few friends and submit your ideas in response to the questions above. This initiative is to activate YOUTH voices in the areas of their HOPES and cause adults to learn ways we can better support our youth today.
You can respond to the questions by submitting a written essay, a poem, a video response, an audio file, a visual performance, a short film (15 mins or less), drawing, painting or any other art form or creative medium that provides your response to the questions above. Get creative . . . Submissions are due May, 2025.
Who it's for . . .
Youth ages 13-18; Grades 8-12
We are looking for teams of 5 students from participating schools, communities and organizations to submit a storytelling body of work answering the questions above.
Each submission is entered into a competition for a chance to win a $1,000 investment in your idea to cultivate HOPE for you and your community. We will have multiple winners! It may just be YOU!
ATTENTION SCHOOLS AND YOUTH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS
Invite your students to participate in the Cultiv8 Hope Initiative.
Where we meet . . .
In-Person & Virtual Sessions Offered
Teams looking for a place to explore their ideas and build HOPE as a collective can join us in-person, every other week at our Cultivate Hope headquarters at Our House Culture Center in Germantown on our session dates below.
It’s FREE, snacks provided and ideas have permission to breathe!
Our IN-Person Schedule:
- FEBRUARY: 2/12 (OPEN HOUSE) & 2/26
- MARCH: 3/12 & 3/26
- APRIL: 4/9 & 4/23
- MAY: 5/7 & 5/21
- JUNE: TO BE ANNOUNCED
Why Meet Up?
Snacks. Music. Idea Exchange
We’re creating a dedicated and safe space outside of school hours bi-weekly at our Cultiv8 Hope Headquarters, located in Germantown at Our House Culture Center, 6380 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144.
We will have HOPE centered activities for youth to build their HOPE muscles. And we will have time for your teams to work on the ideas you plan to submit for this Storytelling campaign. Each meet-up will be a different activity.
Members of I Choose To Win and its Cultiv8 Hope team will be there to answer questions about your ideas, submissions, offer supplies, and ensure a safe space for you to gather during our sessions. Not to mention, you’ll get to connect with other students participating in the campaign to network and have idea exchanges.
Cultiv8 Hope At-A-Glance
Help us spread the word! We’re hoping to engage 50 youth in this initiative and we can do it with your help. Click on the images below to download the PDF version.
Cultiv8 Hope is Funded by...
Cultiv8 Hope is an initiative brought to you by I Choose to Win, and the financial support of the following grant making organizations: The Forfeiture Fund by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, The Philadelphia City Fund, and HealthSpark Foundation. With the generosity, we will learn how to better support the hopes and dreams of our youth so we can develop programming aligned with hope-building for their future.
Community Partner Shout Out
A special shout out to community partners who helped make the magic happen. Thank you for allowing us to speak with your youth to let them know about this initiative so they could join in. Together, we are partners in Cultivating Hope for our youth.
Cultiv8 Hope In-Person Sessions: The Impact of Storytelling
Storytelling is the heart of Cultiv8 Hope. It’s how we help young people make sense of their world—and begin to reshape it. At I Choose to Win, we’ve always believed that everyone, regardless of age or background, has a story worth telling. Our youth are no different. Despite the digital era’s pull toward passive scrolling and soundbites, we suspected that given the right conditions—tools, time, trust—they would tap into storytelling as a powerful outlet to release what’s often held inside: frustration, fear, passion, imagination.
Storytelling is universal. It’s healing. And when someone who feels unheard is given the resources and encouragement to express themselves, they come alive. This is why we chose storytelling—it’s not just expression, it’s transformation. It builds connection, resilience, and agency.
The science supports this. Research shows that storytelling increases empathy, reduces stress, and improves mental health—especially among BIPOC youth. According to the National Library of Medicine, narrative practices help participants organize experiences, build emotional regulation, and develop a stronger sense of self. In our Cultiv8 Hope In-person sessions, students use a Hope Scale, the Story Vision Worksheet, microphone moments, poetry, and podcasting to define hope in their own words. For many, it’s the first time they’ve had space to be the narrator of their own life.
