Mission.

To be a catalyst for change by creating unique opportunities for young people to create and share stories about wildlife conservation.

Vision.

We created EarthTails Advocacy (ETA) to introduce wildlife conservation and preservation to a new generation. There are thousands of organizations in the United States who are protecting wildlife. In the mission of amplifying their work, we are going to find young, innovative storytellers to tell those stories. We’ll provide successful, professional mentors, one of a kind boots-on-the-ground experiences, and assistance in distributing their narratives to the widest possible audiences.

We’re looking for college students (ages 18-25), who have aspirations of becoming the next Pulitzer Prize winning author, the next Oscar winning documentarian, the next Grammy winning musician, the next massive Tik Tok activist, and things we haven’t even thought of yet. We want them to use their burgeoning narrative skills to speak to their peers, their families, and audiences far and wide about the necessary, costly, and globally conscious work being done by scientists and activists worldwide.

Why Stories?

Your goal in every communication is to influence your target audience (change their current attitudes, belief, knowledge, and behavior). Information alone rarely changes any of these. Research confirms that well-designed stories are the most effective vehicle for exerting influence.
— Kendall Haven, Story Proof and Story Smart, 2014

Stories help us to remember by activating many parts of the brain instead of only activating the parts used to process factual information. When we care about an individual victim or animal, we take action but when an entire group or species is at danger, we don’t… cold calculation does not increase our concern for large problems. Instead, it suppresses our compassion. It blocks action and hinders behaviour change.

Dan Ariely, On Empathy and Emotion: Why We Respond to One Person who Needs Help but Not to Many, The Upside of Irrationality, 2010

Background.

ETA’s founders, Tracey Powell and Mike Stickle, discovered their shared interest in wildlife at an early age, visiting an animal “safari” park in their New Jersey hometown. This animal park experience opened their eyes to the widespread mistreatment of animals held captive for human entertainment. Now, decades later, in a time of increasing peril for wildlife and the planet itself, they are embarking on this journey to nurture new generations of activists whose storytelling powers will broadcast the heroic narratives of organizations battling to save our world and it’s wildlife populations.