● Our story
Three years ago, founder Christina Blacken launched Change My Mind storytelling events in NYC in response to rising fear, isolation, and declining trust that’s occurring across the country. People didn't need another lecture—they needed to hear real stories of courage face to face. 400 people and 50 storytellers later we’re growing a nationwide movement of countering polarization and isolation through free, community-led storytelling events where people unite through their true stories of courage.
At Change My Mind events, strangers arrive, hear true stories of personal courage from diverse perspectives, share their own, and leave feeling seen, heard, connected, and hopeful. Research shows trust grows when people share a goal inspired by a common value—and courage as a common value and goal is a potent tool for uniting all backgrounds.
How it all began
Courage has shaped my life: from my family being courageous enough to leave Memphis Tennessee to land in Utah during the Great Migration during the height of Jim Crow, to overcoming discrimination growing up as an “only” in Utah, to building a business solo for seven years before founding The New Quo Foundation. With a small grant from the NYC Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, I founded The New Quo Foundation—a nationwide movement dedicated to community-led Change My Mind events and the Tell it Proud podcast, uniting people on their stories of courage, not fear.
Before The New Quo Foundation, I taught 31,000 people across 9 industries a new form of leadership that reduces bias and improves trust, built on the wisdom and courage within their life stories, using evidence-based frameworks I designed. My clients included Microsoft, Cambridge University, Yale University, Barnard University, Pfizer, Nextdoor. Before social entrepreneurship, I worked in four industries doing impact-driven storytelling work including law, marketing, media, and non-profit. All of my work is driven by the belief that we create a better future when we choose daily acts of courage: choosing integrity, authenticity, and values-alignment across our lives, work, and relationships, despite injustice and adversity.
My gift is translating complex social and behavioral ideas into engaging, relatable insights and practical tools. I tell stories, facilitate transformational discussions, sing a tune when the moment's right, and blend evidence-based practices with real-world application. My work has been featured in the NY Times, TeenVouge, Forbes, Business Insider, and Nasdaq.com among other outlets. As a Utah native and resident of NYC for the past 16 years, I know far more uses for jello than I’d like to admit