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.