Learnings from the Survivor Advocate Network workshop

“Unless the people with the problems become authors of the solution, change won’t happen.”

– Marshall Ganz

Earlier this month, I was fortunate to attend a workshop for the Survivor Advocate Network hosted by the National Safety Council. The workshop was intended to build the network of those fighting common problems and to help advocates amplify their stories, while also driving discussion on how policy could impact this space. Those in attendance shared heartbreaking stories of distracted driving, workplace violence, and the opioid epidemic. Storytelling like this can be a critical part of solutions, as I have learned from working on sharing survivor stories of the opioid epidemic for the past few years.

The National Safety Council understands this. I first worked with them last year through their work with Opioid Awareness, and more recently, our partnership expanded as they took ownership of the Celebrating Lost Loved Ones map. In fact, several National Safety Council advocates for the opioid epidemic have added their loved ones to this map.

These stories do more than put faces to data— they can create real change. In one such case, I virtually met Dustin, who shared the loss of his son, Brady, on the map. Inspiring stories like these have led survivors to create their own nonprofits, such as Brady’s Hope, LTM Foundation, and 525 Foundation. These extraordinary organizations are just some of the groups spreading awareness and driving policy in their own localities.

These organizations are why the data points behind the Opioid Mapping Initiative are so important. When local nonprofits partner with governments to showcase real data, it impresses the importance of the epidemic on their communities. Beyond creating awareness, these organizations are also critical to providing information on how to use and where to get Naloxone and where to drop off unused medications. In many cases, nonprofits also raise funds to place new drop boxes or get naloxone kits. The organizations prove that advocacy works best at a local level, but by convening together as survivors, they also show that common problems can be best solved through collaboration and the active use of technology.

At the workshop, I was amazed by the strength of the people I met. They also reminded me of another convening I attended earlier this year, the Public Interest Technology Summit at the Harvard Kennedy School. There, Professor Marshall Ganz spoke with us about the potential for organizing to make impactful change. His quote about empowering people who possess direct experience with these problems to find solutions perfectly encapsulates the spirit of this work.