Building Community Power Through Medicaid Storytelling

Too often, Medicaid conversations focus on data, budgets, and policy while the people most affected remain unheard. Drawing from CHCM’s statewide Through Our Eyes storytelling initiative, this interactive session will explore how lived experience can become evidence for advocacy and a catalyst for systems change. Participants will examine ethical, Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed approaches to recruiting, supporting, and compensating storytellers while protecting their dignity and honoring their expertise. Through guided discussion and practical exercises, participants will leave with strategies for centering community voice, strengthening coalitions, and using storytelling to advance Medicaid policy and accountability.