Detangled is a strategic platform for effective mass engagement using storytelling and community cultivation to drive social change at scale. The organization was founded by Nia Weeks and Damien D. Smith as a result of their massive success mobilizing hundreds of thousands of Louisiana citizens for systemic change.
Weeks is a civic strategist and attorney who has led universities, government agencies and private entities in strategic campaign development for policy change and civic engagement. Smith is an award-winning filmmaker using strategic storytelling for organizations and corporations to inspire and provoke social change at scale.
Born out of the collective work of their three organizations, Detangled is best known for its integrated campaign which nearly doubled voter turnout in Louisiana’s historic 2020 election. This momentum also resulted in the successful passage of the CROWN Act across the state.
For three years, Weeks’ Citizen SHE (fiscally sponsored 501(c)3) and Citizen SHE United 501(c)4 partnered with Smith’s 4910 Rosalie Productions to develop a novel approach for maximizing civic engagement at scale.
Inspired by a 2018 incident in which a student was removed from a Louisiana school due to her hair style, the collaborative that would become Detangled crafted a plan to end such discrimination. The integrated campaign strategy leading to their historic wins involved a multi-pronged storytelling framework keyed in on deep listening for the activation of mass civic participation. Their implementation would include a strategic application of informative social media lives, docuseries, panels, posts, debate watch parties, debates, weekly facebook live shows, law review articles and a documentary.
Their work was funded by the Packard Foundation, Ms. Foundation, Southern Poverty Law Center – Voice Your Vote Fund, the Kellogg Foundation, Facebook, the Kaplan Fund, the JLH Fund, Greater New Orleans Foundation and various individual donors across the world.
Through their multi-pronged strategy and ingenious coalition building, Detangled was able to activate a diverse cross section of 500K Black women across Louisiana, mobilizing voters and driving a collective policy agenda. For the 2020 election, they increased voter turnout from 157K to 270K Black women, a record 70% increase.
The reach and visibility of their Road to 300K campaign for voter engagement drove the successful passage of Rep. Candace Newell’s CROWN Act-inspired bill immediately after the 2020 election. This historic human rights bill, passed first in California, bans discrimination based on “skin color, facial characteristics, hair texture, natural hairstyles and protective hairstyles.”
In the legacy of that success, Detangled continues to collaborate with communities and organizations across the world seeking to mobilize for mass action in pursuit of common goals.
Recognizing that all humans seek authentic connection and representation through stories that reflect their experiences and hopes, Detangled has mastered the art of cultivating community around shared goals. Their unique approach uses uplifting, entertaining and educational experiences to cultivate organic, authentic and sustainable relationships across diverse populations. This results in stronger, more impactful mobilization campaigns that drive social change at scale.
Detangled’s 40+ years of combined experience supporting communities in accessing reparative justice makes them uniquely positioned to develop effective strategies to protect the civil liberties, civil rights and civic freedom of all Americans.