For Justine Wentzell-Chang, storytelling is more than narrative—it’s a lever for cultural and political change. After witnessing how women’s stories were misrepresented in entertainment, she committed to helping equity‑driven leaders, especially Women of Color, reclaim their voices and communicate with clarity, humanity, and truth. Now expanding her work into political strategy, Justine’s mission to help elect 100 equity‑driven women by 2030 is rooted in a belief that better messaging doesn’t just win elections—it rebuilds trust, shifts power, and sets a new standard for leadership that centers care, justice, and collective good.
Hi Justine, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story and mission with our readers. We’re excited to learn more about the powerful work you’re doing, so let’s jump right in.
You’re a messaging strategist and copywriter who works closely with equity-driven leaders, especially Women of Color and systemically marginalized communities. What drew you to this work originally, and how has your understanding of the power of storytelling evolved over time?
When I worked in the entertainment industry, I worked on a lot of female-driven scripts. And I remember getting frustrated with how the female characters were being portrayed—their dialogue, decisions made—and it dawned on me one day that most of the scripts I was reading and giving notes on were written by men. So I thought to myself, “No wonder we have such messed up and unrealistic expectations of women!” The wrong people have been writing our stories! Don’t even get me started on the performative diversity…
So that’s what drew me to amplifying our own stories. If we’re not telling our own stories, then someone else is mis-telling them or erasing them.
And the more I do this work—especially alongside leaders—the more I see that storytelling doesn’t just shift narratives. It shifts power.
Recently, you’ve expanded your mission to help 100 equity-driven women candidates win elections by 2030. What was the moment you realized this was the next, necessary step in your work?
Kamala Harris’ 107 day presidential campaign is what made me realize this was the next step. I have so much respect for her and admire her in many ways. But throughout the campaign I felt her messaging was off. Then I kept hearing from others that they felt the same way. And then after the campaign I heard some Democratic leaders admit that their whole party has a messaging issue. What frustrated, and still frustrates me, is that if they know this, why aren’t they fixing it? Or if they are…we can’t tell. Of course, there are a few folks doing their own thing, but overall…the Democratic party is still struggling with messaging.
I can see and hear the problems, and I believe I can really help these candidates and politicians better connect with their constituents through the same work I’ve been doing with entrepreneurs.
And with the way things have gone over the last year, I can no longer just write to my reps, show up at protests, and share stories on social media. I want to play an active role in saving our democracy. Because yes, at this point, we are saving our democracy.
Political messaging can often feel disconnected or inaccessible. How do you approach helping candidates tell “the right stories, the right way” so they truly resonate with voters and inspire people to show up at the polls?
I use a simple two-layer process: first we shape the structure of the message, then we bring out the human truth inside it.”
Most candidates are walking around with a “default voice” that sounds like corporate leadership, academia, or policy briefing notes. So the first thing I do is help them strip that away and get back to a voice that’s human, specific, and unmistakably theirs.
From there, we build messaging that does two things at once: it addresses what matters, and it reads the room. That means combining research and issue fluency with emotional intelligence. We use instinct, intuition, and strategy to know which stories to tell, how to tell them, and when.
A big part of that is translation. Politics is full of complex issues, but voters should not need a graduate degree to understand what’s at stake. So we break big topics down into clear, digestible language that empowers people with knowledge. Because when people feel informed, they feel capable. And when they feel capable, they make decisions. They participate. They show up.
And then we close the logic loops.
A lot of politicians can name a problem and gesture at a solution. Where messaging breaks down is when the audience has to do too much mental work to connect the dots. I help candidates get clearer and more concrete so people immediately understand: what the problem is, what the plan is, why it matters, and where they fit in.
Finally, we get the stories right. If country music is three chords and the truth, then impactful messaging is three core stories and the truth: the story that explains their why, the story that proves their values, and the story that makes their promise feel real.
We weave those together so the message holds up under pressure, especially in the 2–3 minute moments that candidates often have to convey their message.
At the end of the day, it comes down to being human, transparent, truthful, and crystal clear—so there are no logic gaps, and voters feel informed enough to act.
You’ve spoken about the need for a “changing of the guards” in leadership. From your perspective, what feels most broken about traditional political communication—and what do equity-driven Women of Color leaders bring that’s fundamentally different?
There’s too much ego in politics, and it shows up in how people communicate: vague talking points, performative conflict, and messaging that treats voters like an audience instead of partners. What equity-driven Women of Color leaders bring that’s fundamentally different is clarity without condescension. Leaders like Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez break down complex issues into language people can actually use. They educate without lecturing, tell the truth without hiding behind jargon, and lead with transparency and lived credibility.
And if I may be blunt, the patriarchal, imperialist leadership we’ve been living under for far too long is failing us. And it is blowing up in front of our eyes.
That’s why I want to see a change in the standard of leadership. It’s time to bring on the matriarchy. And this doesn’t mean no men in leadership. It just means leadership that protects the most vulnerable, listens before it acts, centers care alongside courage, values collaboration over domination, empathy over ego, and justice over convenience—making decisions for the good of the whole community, not just the privileged few.
As you look ahead to the next several years, what excites you most about this mission, and what would success look like to you—not just in election wins, but in long-term cultural and systemic change?
What excites me most is creating the cultural change our kids and future generations deserve. Success isn’t just winning elections, it’s raising the standard for what leadership sounds like and how it behaves. It looks like voters feeling informed instead of manipulated, seeing themselves reflected in power, and trusting that government can actually be a tool for care, dignity, and justice. It also looks like less division and remembering to see each other as human.
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