Work
American Stories is an expansive oral history project, timed to the nation’s 250th anniversary, that asks people one simple question: How did your family become American? The problem was that this idea only lived in the founder, Elizabeth Hira’s head—she needed a team that would help her bring her vision to reality.
From the Dreamers to those whose ancestors came on the Mayflower, indigenous peoples to descendants of enslaved people, Holocaust survivors to Afghan refugees — each and every American family has an origin story worth recounting."
The ambition was enormous. The infrastructure was nonexistent. American Stories had no brand, no visual identity, no website, no content strategy, no campaign framework, and no digital presence of any kind. What it had was an idea, a founder with deep credibility, and backing from the Ford Foundation, the Omidyar Network, and other major funders who believed in the mission. The initiative needed to do three things simultaneously: convince high-dollar donors to fund it, build public awareness that would drive participation, and create a digital home that could eventually house thousands of intimate, intergenerational stories — searchable, browsable, and built to last.
The website had to serve two audiences with fundamentally different needs arriving at the same URL. Major donors needed to understand American Stories’ credibility, vision, and readiness to execute in under eight seconds. The general public needed to feel invited, emotionally engaged, and clear on how to participate.
Additionally, the project could only grow as additional funding came in.
Knowing this, Teal designed a phased campaign architecture. Phase 1 would introduce American Stories through a professionally produced short film featuring celebrated Americans in intimate, intergenerational interviews. Phase 2 would open the platform to public submissions, supported by grassroots partnerships with libraries, veterans’ groups, unions, and houses of worship. Phase 2 would be accompanied by a digital marketing strategy spanning Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn — plus an influencer strategy, partnership toolkit, and campaign calendar. Every element feeds the same funnel: awareness to engagement to participation.
The result of American Stories will be an enduring online archive of our true collective history, capturing the diversity and commonality, the beauty and challenges, of our American experiences.
An enhanced visual brand that balances data-driven credibility with human-centered storytelling.
The part where we ask you to cough up your email. So we can discuss all the amazing things we’re gonna do together. No pressure. Really.