In this premiere episode of The Backstory from Future of Faith, project leaders and guests pull back the curtain on the National Storytelling Initiative. They discuss early learnings from planning grants, working with master storytellers and marketers, audience and distribution strategy, and the surprising role of AI StoryBots in shaping personal narratives.

Chris Leach from the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry joins us as our special guest and conversations cover youth protagonism, diocesan capacity, the emerging Library of Hope, and practical questions about ethics, consent, and scaling local stories into national campaigns as the projects move from planning into execution.

Welcome to The Backstory, a candid look at the roots, soil, and saplings of narrative change.

Hosted by Josh Packard (Future of Faith), Shannon Hopkins (Rooted Good), and Elizabeth Coffee (Lake Institute), this podcast is a dedicated companion for the Lilly Endowment Storytelling cohort. While most people only see the "canopy"—the polished, final stories we share with the world—we’re interested in what happens underneath.

In this series, we pull back the curtain on the creative process to explore how faithful narratives are actually built. We dig into the "backstory" of our work: the ethical dilemmas, the technical challenges, the unexpected wins, and the messy reality of trying to shift culture through story.

Join us each month for:

- Behind-the-scenes breakdowns of our own active projects. - Peer-to-peer interviews with fellow grantees from the field. - Honest conversations about what it takes to tell stories that shape the future of faith.

Whether you are in the thick of a grant project or just passionate about the intersection of faith and storytelling, come listen, learn, and grow with us in The Backstory.