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Introducing Our 2025-26 North Stars!

This fall, we welcomed our ninth North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship cohort—and we’re excited to announce our newest fellows! Get a preview below, and read more about their work here.

Black Liberation Lab

James Arroyo Miller, Stephanie Williams, Jeanine Weekes Schorer, Terri Hardaway

Seeing past the frameworks that white supremacy constructed for how to lead, how to live, how to work, and how to be in community—to a true liberation for ALL Black people.

blakQuity

Imane Soubiane, Jamila White

A Black-led social impact organization advancing economic justice and cooperative development so Black communities can thrive.

D&D Healing

Dawn Burns, DeAnna Smith

A community-driven cooperative dedicated to holistic wellness (including healing and food access), economic empowerment, and building generational wealth.

Elephant & Turtle Collective

Precious Wallace, Laura Mann Hill

A wellness-centered initiative dedicated to helping people navigate grief, healing, and self-discovery.

Emi Coffee and Tea Bar

Cayden Black, Sumer Powell, Sara Chesak, Samara Jones, Drenaia Pittman

Combining healthy food and drink, cooperative business practices, and programming that uplifts local artists, entrepreneurs, and leaders to create a sustainable gathering place where community, culture, and resilience thrive together.

MAMA (Metro Atlanta Mutual Aid) Fund

Kerrissa Vaughn, Dannielle Thomas, Sanae Lahgazi Alaoui, Darley Sackitey, Jovan Julien, Nia Mosby, Angel Torres

Amplifying mutual aid networks; cultivating relationships and conversations toward achieving the redistribution of wealth; and creating just systems and infrastructure to share skills, knowledge, and resources to meet our current and future needs.

Mama Moyo Collective

Shétu Rose, Sammie Joseph-Fredericks, Jamesetta Diggs, Asneth Omare, Esthella Ajayi-Nicol, Caroline Njau, Jarinat Thorpe

A cooperative founded by mothers of African descent, united in the pursuit of economic freedom and generational wealth for themselves, their children, their families, and their communities.

Nourish Collective

Trinice McNally-Hair, Destiny Hodges

Sustaining healers, educators, and community practitioners through cooperative ownership, economic projects, and workforce development that nurture ancestral traditions, wellness, and wealth in Black and Brown communities.

Pachipamwe

Blessing Chirimbani, Tapiwa Manjengwa

Nurturing the whole student by combining education, mentorship, family support, and community care, ensuring every child in Zimbabwe can learn, grow, and lead with confidence.

S-E-W Cooperative/Onyx Collective

Alicia Rufus, Jeanine Wiley, Rose Johnsongale, Victoria McWane-Creek, Jackie Hill, Heather Hill, Jennifer Aranda

Creating spaces where Black individuals in rural communities can connect, support one another and thrive.

Spectrum Cleaning Cooperative

Terrence White, Steffanie White

A Detroit worker-owned cleaning cooperative that provides stable, dignified employment and transformative job training.

STAR

Alea McDuffie, Jonathan A. Osei

A multi-disciplinary artist collective that focuses on the creative distribution and economic well-being of Black artists.

Toledo Regenerative Agriculture Association

Walter Davis III, Erelah Davis, Ivy Pitts, Maurice Hardiman, Feliciano Pop

A collection of Black and Indigenous small-scale farmers in Belize seeking to improve the health conditions of the people of Toledo District by increasing the availability of high-quality, nutrient-dense annual organic vegetables.

Womxnist Liberation Cooperative

Aisha Truss-Miller, Cynthia Piphus, LaTierra Piphus, Mariah Barber

An Afrofuturist reimagining of Labor & community for Black women and femmes, providing workplace and wellness benefits for folx working for themselves and on behalf of the community.

Our North Star program team smiles with new fellows at the Cohort 9 hybrid orientation session. Top row, left to right: Nexus Community Wealth Building Director Nonkululeko Tabata, fellows Precious Wallace, Jonathan A. Osei, Laura Mann Hill, Blessing Chirimbani, DeAnna Smith, Dawn Burns, Sammie Joseph-Fredericks, Cayden Black, and North Star Program Manager Leanna Browne. Bottom row, left to right: Fellows Shétu Rose, Tapiwa Manjengwa, and Sumer Powell.