Our newsletters go out to ~10K subscribers each month, and we are always looking to hear your ideas! We look for pitches that offer a critical new perspective, incorporate a personal lens to the issue, and deliver a set of action steps for our audience. The clearer and more detailed your idea, the better! Please review the below for clear pitch guidelines.

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What an ideal pitch looks like:​

 

1. The specific social justice issue you'll be addressing in your piece. How will your analysis address the intersectionality of this issue?

2. One sentence main thesis about how and why you believe this issue is important and how you believe it needs to be addressed.

3. What is unique or critical in your analysis that has not been covered before? (References to other angles of existing analysis are helpful here to show you’ve done some research on the topic.)

4. Personal relationship to this issue and why others should also care about this issue.

5. A proposal (or several) for a different way to approach / understand / challenge this issue.

6. How can readers implement these proposed changes in their life going forward?

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​We are not looking for specific writing or journalism credentials, but we always appreciate any writing samples.

 

Where to send your pitch:

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• Following the above structure, please send your pitch and any samples or links to your work to hello@studioatao.org and emily@studioatao.org. 

 

Payment:

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Final pieces range from 800-1,000 words, and we pay $150, which includes audio and video collateral based on their work for promotional purposes. 

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Topics/concepts we would like to see pitches for:

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• Transformative justice

  • We're specifically interested in exploring transformative justice as a framework across all aspects of society, from personal relationships to work, school, etc. For example, what can / does transformative justice look like regarding how to feed those in need? In particular, what conditions created the systems of harm and oppression that transformative justice tackles, and what simple steps or practices can we take to work towards transformative justice?

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• Nonprofit industrial complex

  • Nonprofits are propped up by a complex system of public and private entities such as the government, businesses, and investors, all of whom play crucial roles in deciding the direction and outcome of nonprofits. We're interested in hearing about your experiences as a part of the nonprofit industrial complex, including learnings and actionable steps we can take to dismantle and disaggregate these systems of power. We are also interested in exploring alternative models we could build together.

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• Power / Decentralization of power

  • Many forms of power and complex systems dictate who ultimately holds power. What are ways power manifests in situations that may be surprising to people or aren't often discussed? What are ways to take control away from traditional systems or forces? What are examples of participatory decision-making models being successfully utilized in the world? How can we work towards redistributing power models instead of just decrying power hoarding?

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• Other topics with a social justice lens

  • Please look at our Resources Library for inspiration for topics we've covered.

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Types of pieces we are not looking for:

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• Summary of a topic or idea that includes no original analysis (e.g., marginalized individuals face racism and discrimination in the workplace). This newsletter is focused on analyzing topics from an original, critical lens angle, and we want to ensure all pieces have this component.

• Topics unrelated to social justice / systems of oppression / positive social change (e.g., how to manifest your dreams in the new year).

• Self-help / how-to articles and guides. While we want recommendations and thoughts on tackling a problem within each piece, our work focuses on change through a systems-based lens. We are not looking to solely provide our readers with a list of recommendations on how they, individually, should solve a specific issue within their home or workplace.

• Self-advertisements. We want to amplify your knowledge and learned experience in a topic of your choice. Still, we do not wish to pitch with a call-to-action that redirects to your work and organization for marketing.