Who says Toledo is not an attractive summer destination? Not the 250-300 undergraduates who applied to spend nine weeks in the Glass City this summer, and especially not the 17 of them who made the final cut.
Press RoomMidstory in the News
Midstory is on a quest to revitalize post-industrial cities through storytelling, research, and youth engagement. Editorial Director, Logan Sander, and President, Samuel Chang, join Doni to discuss how their work is sparking a new kind of civic imagination.
The state of Ohio is rich with unique history and culture, reflected by its diverse landscapes, vibrant communities and the people who call it home.
Midstory presents “With|Standing”, examining architectural history and reuse across Ohio. Midstory’s Ruth Chang and Celia Johnson on the Leading Edge.
The mini documentary series covers six architectural sites that have undergone transformation and adaptive reuse. Midstory presents “With|Standing”.
Some talk about bright, talented young people leaving Toledo – a brain drain, it’s called. Then there’s the four who left, earned degrees and started good jobs, but returned.
They’re on a crusade of sorts: to tell the story of Toledo specifically and the Midwest in general. Hence, in 2018, they formed Midstory. It’s not only “our” story, but theirs.
Toledo residents pushed out of real estate market as rental costs surge. Midstory’s Janek Schaller on the Leading Edge.
Climate change will affect Ohio in a myriad of ways: it could alter farmers’ growing seasons, increase energy bills, change the price tag on food and lessen the biodiversity Ohioans see on walks around their neighborhood.
The Ohio nonprofit think hub, Midstory, has explored these ramifications and more in their 9-episode series, “Colors of Climate Change”.
As you know we have a lot of guests who return multiple times. Sam Chang is back, but his first visit was YEARS ago. So let’s do a refresher on what Midstory is, and you’ll see why I refer to them as a modern NPR. Sam also wants to invite us out to their summer interns storytelling event coming up on July 26th.
Also, some AI discussion, which may be a first on the show, choosing higher ed or not, and local cuisine thoughts.
Gory NBA talk, one of Sam’s passions though not his wife’s, near the end of the episode.
Visitors to the Main Library in downtown Toledo might have spotted a recent arboreal assemblage making its way into the building.
The new exhibit, titled A Canopy of Arrivals, is part of the library’s programming for Immigrant Heritage Month this June. The library has organized a string of offerings for the community, including book recommendations, multilingual social nights, and a panel on immigration.
11/20/25 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES THE TOLEDO-LUCAS COUNTY RESCUE PLAN GRANT CYCLE 4
08/01/25 | MIDSTORY DEBUTS INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL GALLERY, “MADE IN TOLEDO”
02/26/25 | MIDSTORY WINS INAUGURAL STATEWIDE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE HUMANITIES
11/21/24 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES THE TOLEDO-LUCAS COUNTY RESCUE PLAN GRANT CYCLE 3
11/15/23 | MIDSTORY NAMED FINALIST IN 2023 INTERNATIONAL ARCGIS COMPETITION
11/7/23 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES THE TOLEDO-LUCAS COUNTY RESCUE PLAN GRANT CYCLE 2
5/5/23 | MIDSTORY FEATURED ON WTOL 11 NEWS’ “LEADING EDGE” TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF THE REGION
2/2/23 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES THE TOLEDO-LUCAS COUNTY RESCUE PLAN GRANT
11/7/22 | MIDSTORY CO-FOUNDER PUBLISHED IN STATEWIDE HUMANITIES PUBLICATION, LUMEN
8/8/22 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN SUBGRANT
4/21/22 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES ITS SECOND OHIO HUMANITIES MEDIA PRODUCTION GRANT
4/15/22 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES GTCF EQUITY & ACCESS GRANT
9/12/21 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES OHIO HUMANITIES SHARP GRANT
1/1/21 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES OHIO HUMANITIES MEDIA PRODUCTION GRANT
6/1/20 | MIDSTORY RECEIVES GRANT FROM FIRST SOLAR CORPORATE CHARITABLE FUND
On Wednesday in a ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse, Ohio Humanities honored one organization and four individuals with its inaugural awards for excellence in the public humanities.
Toledo-based educational media organization Midstory received the inaugural David Descutner and DeLysa Burnier Award for Excellence in the Humanities.
Ruth Chang ’12, Sam Chang ’16, and Logan Sander ’18 grew up in Toledo, Ohio. When they came to Princeton, connections and career opportunities that felt a world away from the Midwest opened up to them.
“We believe that the best way to change some of the perspectives about the Midwest is to engage people, especially young people, in the storytelling process.” — Sam Chang ’16
“Colors of Climate Change” is a new data storytelling project that explores climate change in Ohio, unpacking topics like natural disasters, agriculture, public health, economics, biodiversity and more through data and insights from scientists, policymakers, farmers, educators and other experts. Originally released as interactive data stories (explore episode 1 here), the project takes physical form in a data arts installation held throughout the month of July at the Main branch of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library. Open to the public, the exhibit features a life-size greenhouse, towering data visuals and even some inclement weather.
A new interactive exhibit tells the stories of Asian Americans who have made Ohio their home.
“Asian in Ohio,” an online gallery by the Toledo-based nonprofit Midstory, features individuals from Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, Dayton, Toledo and elsewhere, depicting “another side of the Midwest story — one often whitewashed and rendered invisible,” according to producers. The archive debuted last month and features maps, data, videotaped interviews and text — similar to a museum exhibit, but all contained on a webpage.
Greater Toledo Community Foundation has a rich history of providing funding to nonprofit organizations that work to enrich the education and literacy of our community. As part of Greater Toledo Community Foundation’s (GTCF) “Fifty Years of Funding Futures” anniversary year, Midstory — a local nonprofit thinkhub that progresses the narrative of the Midwest — showcased a multimedia presentation and interactive exhibit at the Foundation’s “Local Tales and Cocktails” event at the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library in May. The event attracted nearly 200 Toledoans to celebrate the Foundation’s efforts and spotlight the state of literacy in the northwest Ohio region.
In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Josh and Morgan sit down with Ruth Chang of Midstory, an educational media organization. In this episode they discuss the intersection of Asian identity and the Midwest, maintaining cultural roots in America, and the culinary culture of Asian cuisine.
There have been efforts to prevent brain drain in Toledo for years. That’s the idea that some of the area’s best and brightest leave and go to bigger cities. But, WTOL 11 found some of the standouts who are back and are doing what they can to make their mark.
This week on “Leading Edge” WTOL 11 News anchor Jeff Smith sits down with Samuel Chang and Logan Sander. The two Toledo-area natives both graduated from Princeton, and they came back home to found “Midstory.”
EPA and co-sponsors launched the Let’s Talk About Heat Challenge, a national competition to identify innovative and effective communication strategies that inform people of the risks of extreme heat and offer ways to keep safe during the hottest days. The challenge was developed in support of the National Climate Task Force’s Extreme Heat Interagency Working Group, which is being led by EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with support from the White House. Midstory received honorable mentions from the EPA for its submission to the challenge.
Erie Hack is a program of the Cleveland Water Alliance in partnership with local champions at TechTown Detroit, Midstory, Blackstone LaunchPad at The University at Buffalo, and WEtech Alliance. Erie Hack is presented by the First Solar Community Giving Fund of the Greater Toledo Community Foundation and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.
Calling all creative minds with a passion for a healthy Lake Erie.
Erie Hack, the biannual competition to inspire technological solutions to Lake Erie’s biggest challenges, is back. And it’s time to start brainstorming ideas that could lead to a healthier lake – and big bucks if your solutions impress the judges the most.
The event is organized by Cleveland Water Alliance along with TechTown Detroit, Toledo thinkhub Midstory, Blackstone LaunchPad at the University at Buffalo, and WEtech Alliance in Windsor, Ontario.
Like Princeton students since time immemorial, Mia Rosini ’21 entered her senior year looking for a job.
Employers, no less than flowers, bloom in certain seasons. The investment banks recruit earliest, usually in the spring of junior year, or even sophomore year for summer internships that often lead to offers of employment upon graduation. Consulting firms and tech companies schedule their interviews with seniors in September and early October. Nonprofits tend to hire later. Rosini knew she wanted to work in consulting and began meeting virtually with Princeton’s Center for Career Development as soon as school started last fall to research firms, update her résumé, draft cover letters, and prepare for interviews.
About Dream Louder: As a creative collective, we are proud of our strong ties to the Midwest and are excited to expose a wider audience to the voices and work of those based here. We are here to collaborate and connect with those who stand for inclusiveness and compassion.
Dream Louder provided the music for Midstory’s podcast series, Social Distances.
In today’s virtual world, interns have had to adapt to work remotely. Hear from current and recent virtual interns to learn the ins and outs and how to navigate virtually.
PANELISTS INCLUDED:
Logan Sander, Co-Founder, Midstory
Jessie Tate Walton, Former Intern, Midstory
Catherine Leslie, Ph.D., a professor at the Kent State University School of Fashion, was recently interviewed for an article from the non-profit media publication, Midstory, based out of Toledo, Ohio.
10/22/2020
Several nonprofit organizations were recognized Thursday morning during the 10th Anniversary Northwest Ohio Nonprofit Innovation & Excellence Award ceremony, which was held virtually this year.
Midstory received the Innovation award, Baby University received the Small Agency Excellence award, and Bittersweet Farms received the Large Agency Excellence award.
10/22/2020
Greater Toledo Community Foundation and The Blade, in partnership with The Center for Nonprofit Resources, The Andersons, Buckeye Broadband and WTVG-13abc, are happy to announce the Tenth Anniversary Northwest Ohio Nonprofit Innovation & Excellence Award winners, recognizing local nonprofit organizations that stand out for their contributions to our community.
- Innovation award: Midstory – Summer Programming
08/19/2020
The OhioX Tech Tour presented by HMB visits Toledo to talk with technology and innovation leaders in Northwest Ohio. Guest speakers include: Keith Instone of Dexterity User Experience, Gene Powell of Spoke, Molly Reams Thompson of Perrysburg Energy Solutions, and Logan Sander of Midstory.
07/03/2020
Design work is under way to create a master plan in Toledo’s Garfield neighborhood and amend existing urban improvement projects in the Old South End.
One homegrown organization, the media organization Midstory, was recruited to develop the initiative’s public education and awareness campaign.
07/01/2020
We’re continuing to catch up with previous guests of The Rough Draft Diaries to see how their doing. This week we check in with Midstory, a nonprofit dedicated to creating an authentic Midwest voice through research, publication, public engagement, and broadcasting. We originally met with Midstory back in February of 2019. And that’s where we’re headed on the Rough Draft Diaries Revisit on FM 91.
06/10/2020
Sam Chang is the co-founder at Midstory, Toledo’s Media Thinkhub, a nonprofit that examines, researches and reports on the issues of brain drain, community, and the historical intersections between environment, industry, and technology.
In this episode, we spoke with Sam about why he returned to Toledo after attending Princeton and beginning his career on the East Coast, what exactly is a thinkhub and how their work can help cities like Toledo across the country.
02/18/2020
Brain Drain? Urban Flight? Who really wants to live around here if they don’t have to? The answer to the last question, it turns out, is Logan Sander, Samuel Chang, Ruth Chang, and Alex Lim, co-founders of Midstory.
One year ago, this group of recent graduates returned to Toledo to found a “media thinkhub” called Midstory that they hoped would become a catalyst for economic growth and creative innovation in the city.
01/25/2020
Brain Drain? Urban Flight? Who really wants to live around here if they don’t have to? The answer to the last question, it turns out, is Logan Sander, Samuel Chang, Ruth Chang, and Alex Lim, co-founders of Midstory.
One year ago, this group of recent graduates returned to Toledo to found a “media thinkhub” called Midstory that they hoped would become a catalyst for economic growth and creative innovation in the city.
01/08/2020
Midstory wants to attract millennials to its founders’ home city of Toledo, Ohio. It aims to find new ways to tell the story of Toledo’s history and its prospects — for example, a GIF-filled summary of television references to the city and a glossy master plan for using the American lotus to solve Lake Erie’s toxic-algae problem.
10/13/2019
Logan and Samuel are graduates of both Sylvania Southview and Princeton. Now, they are the founders of the non-profit ‘Midstory.’
09/19/2019
The journey to get young people to want to move back and reinvigorate America’s small towns. Co-Founder and Director at Midstory.org This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
08/01/2019
A group of motivated, young Midwestern natives thinks Toledo is great and wants to help the city show it.
Samuel Chang, Logan Sander, and Ruth Chang — graduates of both Sylvania Southview High School and Princeton University — along with Kalamazoo, Mich., native and MIT graduate Alex Lim, all dropped their early careers on the east coast to return to the Midwest and found Midstory, a nonprofit “media thinkhub” that aims to cultivate a love for Toledo among young people and attract outside talent to the area.
07/31/2019
Our story and our mission—how personal our motivation is for doing what we are doing. Midstory was born out of our own experience leaving—and now returning to—our home. We hope others can do the same! Our mission is to retain, cultivate, and attract young people and the public at large through creative storytelling and solutions-oriented projects in post-industrial cities.
07/31/2019
On August 3, 2019, COACT Associates will be exhibiting at a local gala entitled “A City in Transit” at the downtown train station in Toledo, Ohio.
07/31/2019
TOLEDO, Ohio, July 31, 2019 – SSOE Group (www.ssoe.com), a global architecture, engineering, and construction management firm, announced today that they are a proud sponsor of the “A City in Transit” gala x expo hosted by Midstory, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to retaining, cultivating, and attracting young people in post-industrial communities—beginning in Toledo, Ohio—through creative storytelling and solutions-oriented projects. This event will take place on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at the Downtown Toledo Train Station, third floor, from 4pm – 9pm.
07/29/2019
The group behind Toledo’s “MIdstory” tells us what’s behind their effort.
07/28/2019
Midstory talks about what ‘brain drain’ means and why they are looking to reverse it.
07/15/2019
Samuel Chang and Logan Sander with Midstory.org Midstory is dedicated to retain, cultivate, and attract youth and the public from disparate segments of post-industrial cities—beginning in the city of Toledo, Ohio—by interweaving stories of science, art, and culture. Our Vision is to have a powerful midstory in the nation, curating a voice for postindustrial communities—toward renewed socio-cultural capital in the Midwest. www.midstory.org
07/08/2019
Midstory wants to attract millennials to its founders’ home city of Toledo, Ohio. It aims to find new ways to tell the story of Toledo’s history and its prospects — for example, a GIF-filled summary of television references to the city and a glossy master plan for using the American lotus to solve Lake Erie’s toxic-algae problem.
05/04/2019
Boyk Law has a new reason to be proud this summer as one of our former interns has returned
home to focus his efforts on making the Toledo area a place where people want to build their lives
and careers.
05/01/2019
Telling great stories about Toledo to keep and attract people to our area, Midstory.org.
Starting from 1:27:30.
04/04/2019
In this week’s podcast episode, Logan Sander, Alex Lim, Ruth Chang and Sam Chang talk about returning to Toledo with swanky Ivy League-level educations and founding a storytelling nonprofit. In providing promising young people both local and from around the country with a platform to share stories inspired by life in Toledo, Midstory looks to bolster Northwest Ohio’s self-image with a healthy dose of perspective.
04/02/2019
In early March I received an interesting LinkedIn message from an old grade school peer. Her name is Logan Sander, and the last thing I had heard about her was that she had gone off to Princeton, and was back in Toledo to lead a media Thinkhub called Midstory. I was surprised by the entire situation; Logan’s message was to inquire about meeting for coffee, but I couldn’t help wondering why she moved back to Toledo from the East Coast, and why she would want to meet with me, the manager of a Toledo-based band.
03/01/2019
After graduating from the GSD, Ruth Chang MArch ’17 is now back in Toledo, Ohio—her hometown—to start a nonprofit invested in the cultural renewal of the Midwestern region. Midstory‘s mission is to inspire, attract, and retain young talent by telling the hidden stories and enacting thought projects and programming in the area. Together with two of her Princeton alumni classmates and one alumnus from MIT, Ruth and her colleagues are on the ground to re-imagine the future of postindustrial towns in the Midwest, beginning in Toledo, Ohio…
02/27/2019
Flyover country. Middle America. A cultural desert. These descriptions of America’s Midwest might sting if you’re a native, but, at this point, they are more than likely white noise to you, a ubiquitous background note played by east and west coast media outlets. They either tell a bleak tale of economic destitution, or a romanticized vision of a simpler, more agriculturally based way of life, neither of which exists on the coasts where those stories are written.
Either way, too often, someone else is telling the Midwest’s story. Four young people from this area are trying to change that with Midstory, a nonprofit that launched last year.
02/25/2019
Throughout the year, Southview alumni return home to visit their alma mater, but rarely do they do so as Ruth Chang, Logan Sander, and Sam Chang have. These three ambitious former Cougars have returned from Ivy League educations to tell the story of Toledo and the Midwest, a project expressed through their non-profit organization called MidStory.
02/13/2019
In the 1920s, “The Bright Young Things,” or “Bright Young People,” was a nickname given to young aristocrats or socialites in London. They were one of England’s first celebrity cultures. But it’s 2019, and I’m going to reuse the term to describe a different group of people. The young, intelligent, driven, creative individuals behind Midstory.