Formed to sustain positive change one story at a time, AwareNow Media, the official storytelling platform for causes, using film, editorial content and storytelling initiatives to bring attention to people, issues and organizations working to create meaningful change, has partnered with us for the AwareNow Award.

As the official storytelling platform for causes, AwareNow Media is dedicated to creating and sustaining positive social change one story at a time. Because I Can, a feature documentary produced by AwareNow Media and directed by Bill McCullough, premiered in May and is available for screenings.

Allié has dedicated her professional and personal life to the service of others through storytelling. As the host of AwareNow and editor of AwareNow Magazine, she works to raise awareness for causes one story at a time. Diagnosed with MS in 2020, Allié took on another role as an Official Ambassador for MS Awareness. When not conducting interviews or producing content, as a professional speaker and performance poet, Allié graces stages and conferences around the world from Detroit to Dubai. ​

Bill McCullough, Chief Content Officer

Bill is an 11-time Emmy Award winning director & C-suite executive who has earned Emmys as a Director, Creative Director, Editor and Composer underlining a unique skill set and marking him as a leading talent in the creative community. His unparalleled portfolio includes having creative directed, edited, and shot the Emmy winner for Outstanding Documentary four consecutive years.

NYF: AwareNow calls itself the official storytelling platform for causes. What does that mean, and what do you believe is the responsibility of a platform telling stories around causes?

For us, being the official storytelling platform for causes means creating a place where causes are not treated as campaigns, categories or passing moments in the news cycle. They are human stories. They are lived experiences. And they deserve to be told with the same depth, care and permanence we give to every other part of culture.

There is a tremendous responsibility that comes with that. When someone trusts you with their story, especially a story rooted in trauma, identity, illness, injustice or advocacy, you are not simply being handed content. You are being handed something personal. Our responsibility is to honor the person before the platform, to preserve the truth and complexity of their experience, and to make sure the story serves the community it comes from rather than simply serving the media outlet publishing it.

At AwareNow, awareness is never the finish line. It is the beginning.
 

NYF: With so much content competing for attention today, what makes a story actually move someone from awareness to action?

I think people act when they stop seeing an issue and start seeing a person.

We are surrounded by statistics, headlines and calls to action all day long. They may inform us, but information alone does not always create connection. Story can. When we recognize ourselves in someone else's fear, hope, grief, courage or uncertainty, something changes. The distance between "their cause" and "my concern" becomes smaller.

The strongest stories do not tell people what to feel or what to do. They create enough emotional proximity that people begin asking their own questions: What does this mean for me? What can I do? Where do I belong in this?

That is where awareness has the potential to become action.
 

NYF: Because I Can is deeply personal, but it was created to serve a much larger community. Why was this particular story important to tell, and what did you hope audiences would take from it?

Because I Can began with my experience of living with multiple sclerosis, but very early on we understood that the film could not simply be a story about me.

MS changes a body, but it also changes relationships, identity, confidence, independence and the way you imagine your future. I wanted to tell the truth about that without reducing the experience to either tragedy or triumph. There is so much life that exists between those two extremes.

At its heart, the film is about friendship, movement and learning how to build a life inside circumstances you did not choose. My hope is that someone living with MS feels seen by it, but also that anyone who has ever had to renegotiate who they are can find themselves somewhere in the story.

I never wanted audiences to leave thinking, "Look what she overcame." I wanted them to leave thinking about what is still possible, for themselves and for the people around them.
 

NYF: What have you learned about telling stories with people rather than simply telling stories about them?

That distinction has become foundational to everything we do.

When you tell a story about someone, it is very easy for the storyteller to remain in control. You decide what matters, what gets included, what the audience should take away and how that person is ultimately framed.

Telling a story with someone requires a different posture. It requires listening. It requires trust. It requires leaving room for contradiction and allowing people to define their own experience rather than fitting their lives neatly into the narrative you expected to tell.

One of the principles I return to often is, "Nothing for us without us." Representation is not simply inviting someone into the room. It is making sure they still recognize themselves in the story when it leaves the room.

For us, collaboration is not just part of the production process. It is part of the ethics of storytelling.
 

NYF: What do you believe storytellers, filmmakers, podcasters and media platforms need to think about differently when approaching purpose-driven content?

I think we need to stop beginning with the question, "How do we make people care?"

That question assumes people do not care. Very often, they do. They simply have not been given a meaningful way into the story.

Purpose-driven content can sometimes become overly instructional. We explain the issue, present the statistics, make the argument and then tell the audience what action they should take. But people are not problems to solve, and stories are not delivery systems for messaging.

I would love to see more storytellers begin with curiosity instead of conclusion. Listen longer. Resist simplifying people into heroes, victims or symbols. Allow a story to contain tension, imperfection and even unanswered questions.

Purpose should deepen the storytelling, not overpower it.

If we create something genuinely human, the purpose will be felt.
 

NYF: Where do you see AwareNow going next, and what role do you hope it can play in the future of cause-driven storytelling?

I see AwareNow becoming less of a media outlet and more of an ecosystem for cause-driven storytelling.

We have spent years building a platform where stories can live across magazine, film, podcast and digital media. The next chapter is about taking those stories further, into classrooms, healthcare environments, communities, live experiences and spaces where storytelling can become participation.

I believe the future of cause-driven media is not simply publishing more content. It is creating deeper connections between storytellers, communities, organizations and the people who want to help but may not yet know where they fit.

My hope is that AwareNow can help establish a different standard for this work: one where lived experience is not extracted for content, but respected as expertise; where awareness is connected to access and action; and where the people closest to a cause have a meaningful role in shaping the stories told about it.

Ultimately, I want AwareNow to be a place where a story does not end when someone finishes watching, reading or listening.

That is where the real work can begin.