Romain Vakilitabar
Organization Details
Pathos Labs is a nonprofit leveraging the cultural power of storytelling to address inequality and reshape harmful dominant narratives. Through our flagship program, PopShift, we convene Hollywood TV writers with directly impacted experts—individuals from historically excluded communities—to foster authentic relationships and co-create nuanced narratives. Since 2020, we’ve facilitated over 2,700 expert-writer connections, influencing shows seen by millions. Topics have included climate justice, disability, criminal legal reform, and immigration. Our goal is to seed new stories across mass media that foster empathy, pluralism, and equity—transforming cultural norms and advancing narrative power for marginalized communities.
Impact Story
Pathos Labs exists to shift the cultural narratives that shape how we see ourselves, each other, and our collective future. In a time of deep polarization and declining trust in institutions, we recognize that data and policy alone cannot move hearts. Culture—especially popular media—is a powerful lever for shaping beliefs, behaviors, and social norms. Yet for too long, the stories reaching millions have excluded or misrepresented those most impacted by injustice.
Through our flagship program, PopShift, we bridge the gap between those with narrative influence (TV writers, producers, and showrunners) and those with lived expertise on critical issues like disability justice, climate change, incarceration, immigration, and LGBTQ+ rights. By facilitating over 2,700 one-on-one meetings and workshops since 2020, we’ve helped embed more nuanced, representative, and transformational stories into mainstream media.
Our impact is twofold: First, we provide creative inspiration and insight for media-makers, leading to more authentic portrayals that reach mass audiences. Second, we redistribute narrative power by uplifting experts from historically marginalized communities—many of whom have been hired as consultants or writers, and whose stories are shaping TV and film projects. In a post-truth world where fear-based and divisive media dominate, we aim to build empathy, expand circles of concern, and help reimagine a more equitable future. Writers tell us PopShift has directly changed how they approach characters, themes, and storylines—making culture more inclusive from the inside out.
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