StoryCorps has launched One Small Step America, an effort to nationally scale the organization’s One Small Step (OSS) initiative. The kick-off will include a national PSA campaign with digital, print, broadcast, and outdoor advertising in markets across the country. Having focused One Small Step in three local Model Communities since 2021, StoryCorps today makes it possible for anyone, anywhere in the country, to quickly and easily participate in a One Small Step conversation.
In development since 2017, OSS pairs strangers with opposing political beliefs for conversations, not to debate politics, but to get to know each other as fellow Americans. The initiative is based on social psychology’s contact theory and to date, more than 5,400 people in over 40 states have participated in OSS.
Dave Isay, Founder and President of StoryCorps, said, “We are not as divided or as different as we think. In fact, 9 out 10 Americans are tired of division, scared of where it’s leading the country, and looking for a way out. As we scale One Small Step nationally, we want people to know that they are part of the ‘exhausted majority.’ One Small Step offers hope, sanity, and a simple step for Americans to take to help close the divides tearing at the very fabric of our nation. We believe we are uniquely positioned to make an impact, and will fight with everything we’ve got—because if the culture of contempt wins, we all lose.”
Research by accomplished scientists and pollsters shows that One Small Step is singularly effective in helping people with opposing political views see the humanity in their fellow Americans, and in seeding hope for meaningful communication once again.
The PSA campaign, designed by creative agency I.D/W and featuring the designs of famed illustrator Noma Bar, will lead with the message “Let’s Talk…for a Change.” It will direct people to TakeOneSmallStep.org, where they can see conversations across the political divide modeled by OSS participants, sign up to record their own One Small Step conversation, or simply find more information about the initiative. Click here to learn more.