WHAT IS GOODVOICE?

GoodVoice aims to develop youth voice and agency. Through project and team driven creative experiences that utilize innovations in design process, social and emotional learning, and digital storytelling, GoodVoice is collaborating with young people and community stakeholders to empower, elevate, and amplify youth voice across the St. Louis metropolitan area.

GoodVoice is committed to individual and community development through creative process.

GoodVoice is at its core an outlook or worldview that sees our future as up for grabs and believes in the ability of our young people to craft the best of all possible next chapters to our story, if presented with the opportunity. GoodVoice provides young people with innovative experiences, skill sets, tools, and frameworks for building the future that they want to see.

GoodVoice provides a framework for a network of young people who are organizing and facilitating youth design sessions aimed at social innovation and transforming communities. We believe that youth empowerment through elevating youth voice and youth vision will spark action and drive systemic change for social good.

GoodVoice provides a responsive set of workshops and opportunities to develop creative skill sets, hold space for tough conversations, think critically, promote equity, and prototype solutions through digital storytelling, issue analysis, and design thinking. With our lens focused on youth voice and direction, these workshops are being co-created and refined with every group or garden of young people that participate.

These gardens sprout up across the St. Louis metropolitan area in all kinds of places where young people ages 11 to 26 are, including middle school and high school small groups, one-on-one college student mentoring, in-school, out-of-school or after-school settings, continuing education and professional development opportunities, with clubs, social groups, musical groups, artists, and entrepreneurs. Together we can make, learn, and grow the relationships, skills, processes, and products to serve our individual and collective community.

THE GOODVOICE TEAM

MIKE PAGANO

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Mike Pagano is an artist, designer, and facilitator based in Saint Louis City; focusing on video and music production, multi-media art, and performance. He has over 17 years of experience working with many of the leading arts institutions in the Saint Louis area, including COCA, Craft Alliance, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Contemporary Art Museum, and most recently the Nine Network of Public Media.

____

At the Nine Center for Public Engagement, Mike managed and developed the NineLAB Digital Storytelling program from 2012–2016, which offered training to community members and organizations to develop 21st-century communication and production skills and feel empowered to tell and share their stories of impact. In the past 2.5 years the NineLAB program produced over 600 short documentary videos, the majority made by first-time video storytellers.

paganopagano@gmail.com

PAUL SORENSON

GOODMAP

Paul Sorenson is the Founder & CEO of GoodMap, whose mission is to create a connected and collaborative nonprofit sector that more effectively and efficiently meets the needs of our community. In this role, Paul guides the development of the GoodMap nonprofit information alignment process as well as emerging innovations like GoodVoice. He previously served as Grace Hill Settlement House’s Director of Strategic Communications & Planning, developing the agency’s program design, evaluation strategy, and partner coordination efforts.

paul@getgoodmap.com

PAUL EVENSEN

SOCIAL INNOVATION STL

Paul is the Executive Director of Social Innovation STL. Paul is a graduate of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas and is interested in how community and systems change can produce better outcomes for the St. Louis region.