ABOUT US
Our Mission
Our Values
To help our partners design educational systems that liberate each student’s unique potential.
Our values include Strives for Authenticity, Leads for Equity, Designs to Transform, Chooses Joy, and Pursues Excellence. Read more about our core values and examples of how we try to live into them below.
We create safe, inclusive, and collaborative environments for our partners to develop enduring solutions. We do this through Northstar’s Theory of Action:
We believe that if we…
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Assemble a diverse team of representative stakeholders (e.g., teachers, students, board, staff, students), and
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Align, adopt, and continuously reflect on liberatory mindsets and processes (e.g., mindsets that allow us to check our biases, center race and equity, think expansively and listen with empathy), and
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Iteratively listen to stakeholders, design with equity in mind, and test solutions
Then we can...
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Transform power by shifting the relationships between those who hold power to design and those impacted by these designs, and
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Generate critical learning and increased agency for those involved in the design work, and therefore
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Create designs that interrupt inequity and increase opportunity for those most impacted by oppression
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Accelerate progress towards organizational mission and goals
OUR VALUES
Strives for Authenticity
We create the conditions required for individuals, teams, and communities to bring their full selves, distinctive perspectives, and unique strengths to the design process.
Leads for Equity & Inclusion
We operate with the belief that racism and systemic inequity have been designed into systems and thus, can be redesigned to promote equity and freedom.
Designs to Transform
We challenge ourselves and our clients to reach for enduring solutions that accelerate progress towards holistic student outcomes.
Chooses
Joy
We find, bring, and share the joy in our work every day. We practice gratitude, celebrate wins, and offer praise.
Pursues Excellence
We are lifelong learners, continually seeking out ways to improve, innovate, and produce high-quality work for our clients.
Our Partners
We are humbled to have the opportunity to work with many of the leading K-12 urban education systems and non-profits in the country.
Learn about the work we are doing with some of our remarkable partners.
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