Stories That Move People to Act
StoryCollab helps organizations surface real, first-person stories and turn them into media that educates, advocates, and builds community.
Stories with the people who live them
A platform of the Research Corporation led by Executive Director Allison Myers, StoryCollab works with organizations, universities, and agencies to create digital stories, podcasts, and story maps with the people who live them. The result is authentic, community-generated media that connects.
NURSE: Empathy Heals
A feature documentary told in nurses' own words.
The film is the result of dozens of first-person narratives, nurses telling their own stories, gathered to explore the power and importance of empathy in nursing education. The work carries those stories into practice: StoryCollab partners with the ETSU College of Nursing on curriculum that treats empathy as a teachable, measurable clinical skill, and on research into how storytelling strengthens care, resilience, and patient outcomes.
From StoryCollab and East Tennessee State University, directed by Sundance award-winning filmmaker Chusy, the film reveals the emotional weight nurses carry every day, doubt, grief, joy, and fierce love, and celebrates them as the heroes they are. It anchors the Nurse Narratives Initiative, a partnership of StoryCollab, the ETSU College of Nursing, the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement at ETSU, and the Research Corporation, made possible by Ballad Health. Coming to streaming platforms in fall 2026.
Signature projects
Nurse Narratives
With Ballad Health and the Tennessee Center Documentary for Nursing Advancement.
Cancer Screening Storytelling
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Maternal Health Storytelling
With the Indiana Department of Health.
Ainu Cultural Heritage
With the Ainu people of northern Japan and Syracuse University.
Voices of Valor
Veteran storytelling supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Public-Interest Partners
Projects with Vanderbilt Health and the U.S. Department of State.
Have a story worth telling?
Let's build it together.