Our name comes from starling birds.
They are known for moving in murmurations. These flocks are particularly collective, adaptive, and strong through connection.
Community leaders are often constrained by limited access to infrastructure. This leads to burnout.
As a community project support hub, we work alongside grassroots leaders to challenge systemic oppression.
By connecting them with financial, administrative, and operational support, we help reduce barriers and administrative burden so their energy stays with deepening their impact.
Our Values
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We act in ways that demonstrate deep love and respect for the community and its people. We invest our time, energy, and resources to support leaders with oppressed identities and communities who have been underserved.
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We are committed to sharing power with marginalized communities, working towards racial justice and an anti-racist community, and dismantling anti-blackness.
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We are honest about our capacity. We follow through on our commitments. We make decisions anchored in our values. We are as transparent as possible about what and how decisions are made.
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We will do whatever is possible to ensure that our resources and decision-making are accessible to everyone regardless of language or disability.
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Each person connected to Stara is accountable to one other and the community. We prioritize care of ourselves and others’ over productivity.
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Each person connected to Stara is accountable to one other and the community. We prioritize care of ourselves and others’ over productivity.
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We are willing to change our processes to meet the needs of the people we serve. We are flexible with timelines, resisting urgency when it is not necessary.
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We are not afraid to speak up when asking questions or sharing our ideas. We do not shy away from disagreement and engage in generative conflict.
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We are visionary. We are motivated by what is possible. We see beyond obstacles.
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We recognize that we are part of a whole and that no achievement is the work of one person alone. We eagerly give others’ credit. We take responsibility for our actions. We are willing to learn from our mistakes. We are willing to be trained. We know we are always growing and learning.
Financial Transparency
We hold ourselves accountable to the organizations and communities we serve. As a fiscal sponsor, we manage public and private funds on behalf of grassroots projects, and we owe our partners, funders, and community clear evidence of how we handle that responsibility.
Our most recent Form 990 and independent audit are available here.
Help Us Build
Stara Collaborative—formerly known as Kalamazoo Justice Hub—was created to support community leaders driving systems change. Our name comes from starling birds, known for moving in murmurations: collective, adaptive, and strong through connection. That’s how we move too.
Your donation helps us grow this vision. Every gift strengthens the infrastructure that supports grassroots work—expanding access to funding, tools, and support for projects rooted in community power.