What’s the story of the left (and how should we tell it?)
Thursday 20th Feb 18;30-20:30, Register on Eventbrite or email space4@outlandish.com
In an age when the far right captures headlines and mobilizes supporters with simple, emotive narratives, progressive politics faces a critical question: where is our story?
The left has historically championed justice, equality, and solidarity, but as challenges grow more complex—climate crises, economic inequality, social polarization—our messaging often fragments. This event explores how the lack of a unified, coherent narrative has hindered progressive movements and asks what it would take to forge a story that connects, inspires,
Panel Speakers
Sana Iqbal is the Founder of Studio Sana, a UK-based strategic design studio. She has creatively led on winning election campaigns in the UK and USA. Her clients include Students Organising for Sustainability UK, AmplifyChange and UK Labour Party, and she was a Judge for D&AD New Blood Awards 2024. After working for a business consultancy, using storytelling to deliver behavioural change, she now uses this knowledge to support progressive leaders and movements. She’ll share her insights on how the Left can use creative storytelling for meaningful change and positively change hearts and minds.
Abdi Suleiman is Political Affairs Lead at Friends of the Earth (FoE) which is the largest grassroots environmental organisation in the UK and part of the largest global network of grassroots environmental organisations. His job is to try to help FoE navigate its political context and maximise its political impact. He’ll be speaking about why Beauty isn’t additional but is essential to the project of the Left and therefore how we tell our stories.
Neha D’Souza is a Campaigns Director at Small Axe, a not-for-profit campaigning agency that builds movements to win progressive change. Through organising, creative storytelling, and digital strategy, she works with activists, political parties, and civil society groups to engage people in the most pressing issues of our time. Her job is to craft campaigns that are dynamic, people-powered, and built to last. At this event, Neha will share insights on how the Left can use strategic campaigning and storytelling to inspire action and build power.
https://www.smallaxe.org
Georgia O’Brien is Head of Communications and Digital at the Co-operative Party, the political party of the UK co-operative movement and sister party to the Labour Party. Georgia is a digital campaigns and communications expert with over a decade of experience driving growth, engagement, and impact for political and human rights organisations. Georgia will be sharing a first look at “Community Britain”, the Co-operative Party’s new project that explores why building community power and ownership should be a serious policy tool for the government to rebuild trust, unlock economic growth, and bridge divided communities.