Navigating narrative systems for access and opportunity
I am Keith P. Talley, a Narrative Systems Specialist based in Chicago. I help people and organizations navigate the structural and narrative barriers that limit access and opportunity — and the narrative barriers, rooted in identity and agency, that keep people from claiming either.
My mission
We help people and organizations navigate the structural and narrative barriers that limit access and agency.
How I work
The work takes three forms - public education, direct facilitation, and institutional consulting. All three are grounded in the same framework: the story shapes us, and changing outcomes starts with changing the narrative.
Workshop facilitation
Immersive workshops that help marginalized communities identify, interrupt, and rebuild the narratives that hold them back.
Organizational consulting
Structural audits that identify where institutional programs and processes are decorating the narrative instead of disrupting it.
Public-facing myth-busting
Engaging in public discourse to reduce stigma and correct harmful narratives.
Narrative systems analysis
Deep analysis of the narratives shaping access and opportunity, made plain for everyday people.
About Keith P. Talley
I am Keith P. Talley, a Chicago-based Narrative Systems Specialist with deep roots in reentry work and community transformation. My practice is built on a simple truth: it's always about the story. The story shapes us, and when we learn to intervene in that story, we change outcomes for individuals, communities, and institutions.
Insights & impact
The work doesn't stay in the room. These articles, posts, and analyses bring the framework to the public, plain language, real issues, no decoration.
Recognizing that many people have spent years defined by trauma, mistakes, and systems that have written their stories for them, Keith helps participants challenge limiting narratives and intentionally re-author identities rooted in resilience, purpose, and possibility.
Sidney W. Johnson, LCSW
[Testimonial coming soon]
[Testimonial coming soon]
Contact Keith P. Talley
Location
433 W 95th St., STE 102 #1011, Chicago, Illinois, United States