Government narratives primarily seek to deter migration, yet these narratives are often misaligned with migrants’ reasons for leaving. At the same time, narratives in many local communities portray emigration as an economic lifeline, rite of passage, and source of pride.

A new report, Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, examines narratives in northern Central America from 2018 to 2022, as well as U.S. and Mexican narratives focused on the region.

Visit this page on our website to learn more.

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Here are some highlights from the convening.

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We are privileged to work with these change agents and the communities they serve. From global migration, vaccine access, biodiversity conservation, environmental racism, gender violence, judicial reform and protecting civil society organizations to many other issues, our team has been honored to partner in the work of advancing a more just and sustainable world. In addition, this year has been a time of growth and learning for our staff. We have continued to invest in and focus on our justice, equity, diversity and inclusion journey, and we have grown our team to meet the needs of our clients by adding 18 incredible new Metropolitan Group/Impacto Social Metropolitan Group (MG/ISMG) staff.

In this 33rd annual letter to stakeholders, we share updates, resources and stories of our clients’ work. As we begin our 34th year, we are deeply committed to advancing the shared imperatives of public health, environmental sustainability and social justice—and we are excited to collaborate with you in this work. On behalf of all of us at MG/ISMG, we wish you a year of impact and purpose.

In commitment and community,

—The MG/ISMG team

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The solutions to curb climate change effects on our health can also be solutions to dismantle structural, institutional and environmental racism. Often, the narrative around climate change is perceived to be a boutique problem observed by the upper and middle classes. However, the truth remains that those contributing least to our growing climate problem are often the ones who suffer the most. This dominant narrative has reinforced who has a seat at the decision-making table, which has led to the design and implementation of racist policies and practices that disproportionately target communities of color.

In September 2021, Metropolitan Group convened an expert panel of leaders, over Zoom, for a conversation on restoring the balance in the climate change, racial justice and health equity storyline. Joined by 160 people across disciplines, sectors and countries, the panel created a lively, yet vulnerable conversation on how to achieve environmental justice and health equity by advancing racial justice during a time of climate crisis. (Click here to watch a recording of the conversation.)

Moderated by Surili Sutaria Patel, vice president at Metropolitan Group, the panelists shared their struggles and triumphs with regards to what it takes to dismantle systemic racism inherent in White supremacist culture and how oppressive laws and policies, have both impacted and catalyzed environmental and social justice movements. Each panelist emphasized actions that we can take now to hear from the voices of those most impacted in ways that also shift the narrative and center their lived realities in climate policies.

The conversation featured personal anecdotes and insights from our panelists.

Vernice Miller-Travis, executive vice president at Metropolitan Group opened the conversation by making the connection between how racial bias has affected the dominant narrative around climate change and how this issue has ravaged the health and livelihood of people. Vernice clarified that when storms, floods, wildfires, hurricanes — any climate disaster — descend on a population, it is always vulnerable people who suffer the most. Many of these folks, specifically Indigenous and other communities of color, were often forced, due to residential segregation, to live in ecologically vulnerable areas (e.g., floodplains and flood zones, low-lying areas, coastal plains, unprotected waterfronts) and often lacked the infrastructural, economic or political support to be protected from devastation. The lived reality of climate change is intrinsically tied to race, which is why we must interrogate and dismantle racist policies and practices, and begin to reimagine them so that they can start to protect everyone.

Dr. Adrienne Hollis, president at Hollis Environmental Consulting Services, talked about how her community, Prince George’s County, Maryland — a county that has one of the highest and most affluent African American populations in the country — bore the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic in that state because of a lack of data. Racial inequities have always translated into health disparities, and we know that Black and Brown people are three times more likely to contract and die of COVID-19 than their White counterparts. The higher infection and death rate is tied to pre-existing health conditions as well as living and working conditions, such as being “essential” or frontline workers, that made this population more at risk. Adrienne also highlighted that in the case of Prince George’s County, the lack of reported data and data analysis derailed the vaccine rollout strategy, which led to higher infection rates, more sickness and ultimately more deaths. Health equity is necessary to protect all of us in a public health crisis. And since climate change is a public health crisis, we need better data on communities most impacted.

Jacqui Patterson, founder and executive director of the Chisholm Legacy Project, enlightened our audience about what happens to a community when they, and their surviving generations, face constant abuse, trauma and neglect. She acknowledges that, as Americans, we are on stolen, unceded land of Indigenous peoples and that our nation was founded on practices of scarcity, greed, exploitation and dehumanization. Jacqui also reflects on the time colonizers brought Sub-Saharan Africans to the Americas — by means of theft, displacement, genocide and enslavement — that their labor was considered essential, but they were considered disposable. This is a common theme that we see play out with people, land and the planet, where the extraction of resources is deemed valuable, but the custodians of that land are seen as worthless. As a result of the reckless, imperialist drive for wealth and power, generations of people, communities and environments are suffering from enormous trauma. We must acknowledge our collective trauma before any healing can begin.

Dr. Shadiin Garcia, executive vice president at Metropolitan Group, connected the erasure of Indigenous people to the environmental justice movement. Indigenous communities, in particular native women, have been and continue to be erased, raped and violently impacted at unprecedented levels by genocidal policies at local, state and national levels. Shadiin explains that decoupling people from land and water leads to practices of dehumanization. The historic, systematic abuse that White America has inflicted on Tribal communities has manifested in the form of assimilation and the disruption of matrilineal societies. Shadiin reminds us that the path to our collective liberation includes centering the rights and ecological knowledge of these peoples. By learning from their stewardship and being in right relationship to land, air, water and earth, we will begin to feel that we are not just part of nature, we are nature.

…

This was just the beginning of the conversation. Check out the full recording to watch this exciting discussion unfold. If you’d like to connect with us, please email publichealth@metgroup.com.

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What would it take to shift that narrative? What if our shared story were that progress means well-being for all, a world where we expect and create conditions for all people to thrive and to create the futures they desire, equitably? Centering well-being in a frame that appeals to justice and equity — including physical, mental and environmental health, social and cultural belonging, sense of purpose, and other dimensions — would mean that progress and the economy serve human beings, communities and our environment in a sustainable balance, and not the other way around.

Global Insights

For clues on how a narrative shift to equitable well-being might happen, we looked around the world at the growing number of countries that are starting to take a well-being approach, meaning their policy and budget decisions are guided by a set of well-being indicators and outcomes. We narrowed in on three in particular:

• New Zealand has made headlines for its well-being budget, massive investments in mental health and early education, and just 27 total COVID deaths (0.5 per 100,000 residents).
• England did pioneering work on well-being measurement more than a decade ago, and there are concerted efforts by several nonprofits to call for a “well-being economy.”
• Mexico developed a subjective well-being indicator in 2012 (by asking people how they are doing) to help inform decision-making. The current National Development Plan includes a “well-being economy” and “well-being minimum wage.”

Although none of these countries — or others — have toppled the dominant “progress = economic growth” refrain, we tracked the growth of two emerging narratives:

• The “economy plus” narrative: This nascent narrative — something like “the economy should deliver good, meaningful lives for everyone” — is being intentionally advanced by a handful of nonprofits and think tanks, and echoed among progressive media, isolated sectors within government, niche economists, social justice advocates, and academia. It makes the case that the economy is something that was intentionally created and that it can be rebuilt in a more just and sustainable way. Well-being, then, would be the outcome of a refined economic system. We wonder whether this inadvertently reinforces an economics-centered narrative and prevents transformative change.
• The pure well-being narrative: This narrative — along the lines of “well-being must be at the core of all decisions and actions,” is enduring at the grassroots level, often tied to specific issues, such as violence, migration, racial justice, gender equity, environmental sustainability and justice. Themes of human dignity, decolonization, and deconstruction of patriarchy are strong. This narrative is deeply embedded in the words, practices and cultures of grassroots movements, Indigenous communities, social justice advocates, and niche media and social media voices, yet remains relatively invisible in media, political discourse and policy deliberations.

There has not been funding or support to connect these efforts or test which narratives most effectively shift mindsets and actions.

On-the-Ground Learning

We brought these and other narrative insights to a group of six organizations working on social change in the United States. They designed short-term projects to experiment with how well-being narratives might provide new opportunities for storytelling, message framing and issue strategy.

Thanks to our collaborators, whose projects are detailed in the full report.

• Eric Dawson, Peace First
• Navina Khanna, HEAL Food Alliance
• Saru Jayaraman, One Fair Wage
• Marlin King, City of Jacksonville, Mississippi
• Deb Nelson, Just Economy Institute
• Sue Polis, National League of Cities

Their creative approaches — from framing the demand for living wages for restaurant workers through a well-being lens, to applying well-being concepts to the launch of a new organization shifting the flow of capital — demonstrated the potential for a well-being narrative. They found the concept of a broader, shared definition of progress — centered in dignity, equity, liberation and collective well-being — was relevant, resonant and helpful.

Where to From Here?

A well-being narrative shows early potential both to advance specific social issues and to create a broader demand for actions that go beyond economic growth to holistic well-being. But scaling up is a bit tricky because no proven, equity-centered, well-being narrative exists.

In the U.S. and globally, groups are starting to experiment with new narratives, but the movement is not networked, leading to competing narratives and incremental rather than transformative change. Most of these formal narrative efforts do not adequately address power and equity, they are too centered on measurements, and they are often based exclusively on economic analysis. And while some grassroots organizations are advancing well-being narratives centered in racial and gender equity, there has not been funding or support to connect these efforts or test which narratives most effectively shift mindsets and actions. We believe that as these voices are amplified, we will begin to see the true impact of a new narrative about progress centered on well-being.

There is opportunity to clarify and refine the narrative — including use and meaning of the term “well-being” — to provide turn-key narrative tools that others can use in their work, and to explore the impact of well-being narratives on policy and other actions.

Meanwhile, we’re interested in lifting up the stories and storytellers who are already defining progress through a well-being frame. If your organization or others are defining progress broadly — and calling for actions that advance well-being — please find and tag us using @metgroup, #wellbeing and #powerofvoice.

If you’d like to discuss this research, see how a well-being narrative might boost your work, or get involved with next steps, please reach out!

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