American All (AA) is a nonprofit community outreach and empowerment program. Our multipurpose storytelling tool helps leaders, at all levels, improve the mental, social and economic health of their constituents. The program uses a unique storytelling tool and its Social Legacy Network (SLN) to benefit students, community members, nonprofits, schools and local businesses—both socially and economically. It has two main components: a Heritage Honor Roll (HHR) that hosts stories created by its members, and Legacy Partner (LP) landing pages for businesses and nonprofits to share information about themselves, and if desired, host stories created by our members.
Lifetime membership in AA is free for all individuals, and it includes a three-month free trial in our SLN which enables them to get discounts on goods and services from our Business Legacy Partners (BLP). Students keep the free trial opportunity until their class graduates. After the trial period, AA members have the option to subscribe to our SLN for $4 per month, cancelable at any time, to continue receiving discounts. Moreover, 77 percent of their gross subscription fee is donated to a school or education organization they designate. If the school is not registered, the funds are donated to their district. It is anticipated that members will subscribe since they should gain more in discounts than the cost of their subscription. If a member does not opt to join the SLN, their lifetime membership in Americans All is unaffected.
Members will never be automatically billed for the optional Social Legacy Network fee after their free trial and can cancel their subscription at any time once they subscribe. No credit card is required to be put on file for the free trial. In addition, we do not store credit card data, share or sell our members’ contact information, allow pop-up ads or any form of AI.
Stories on our HHR can be about individuals, families, groups or issues/topics, contain up to 2,000 words (1,000 can be password protected for privacy), and be augmented with images, logos, hyperlinks, photographs, and audio-video media. They can also be published in multiple languages. In addition, membership includes creating a second story in English.
All stories can be easily updated and we archive all prior versions archived. Stories can be started by filling in only a few required fields and then be completed over time. In addition, members can also create a shorter version (up to 500 words) which can be printed in an 8½” x 11” format. Finally, AA provides step-by-step tutorials and easy-to-use templates to simplify the creative process.
What makes our program even more unique is that we include historical information to provide context for these stories and the experiences, observations and accomplishments reflected in them. Even though AA is no longer active in curriculum arenas, our online K–12 nonpolitical supplemental classroom resources presented in multiple perspectives, which were sold to more than 2,000 schools and libraries nationwide remain our site.
Storytelling helps families pass on knowledge and experiences to current and future generations. Research by the National Library of Medicine has shown that patterns of memory sharing begin early in one’s life, informing relationships, one’s history, and one’s sense of cultural belonging. Intergenerational knowledge of one’s family history is associated with positive mental health, wholeness and well-being. Life stories are central to one’s sense of self and the social world that they inhabit. Indeed, considerable research indicates that storytelling is fundamental to human development, cultural frameworks, and the cultivation of relationships.
