Emotion drives engagement and action, both online and in person. Stories, an effective conduit to channel emotions and ideas systemically, have the power to engage, educate, and inspire action. CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) leverages the power of storytelling to create compelling communication strategies and products that lift up the voices of people with lived experience and traditionally underserved populations and highlight the human impact of NCBDDD’s work. Over the past 2 years, the center has collaborated with RTI International and other key partner organizations to plan a series of digital activations that move beyond passively sharing content to actively engaging people emotionally and inspiring action. A key feature of this strategy involves working with strategic partners and people with lived experiences to share their thoughts and perspectives, which in turn are developed into user-centric content that places people with lived experience first. Through the use of direct quotes, both in static graphics and videos, people with lived experiences of disability are able to share their stories and be involved in the promotion of health messages that impact them. NCBDDD’s associate director for communication science will moderate a panel with communications leaders from three CDC divisions who will share how they have planned activations to help achieve their strategic goals.