Civic, nonprofit, and community organizations
For civic groups, nonprofits, community organizations, and the people who lead them. Dr. Starks has given the keynote at the NAACP Lynchburg Branch's annual fundraising banquet, spoken for the League of Women Voters of Falmouth, consulted for a transitional housing program for former foster youth, and served on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Beacon of Hope in Lynchburg.
What the work addresses
Community organizations work closest to the conditions many Be The Messenger trainings start with: poverty, low educational attainment, unemployment, poor health, and crime, and the loss of trust and loss of hope that follow them. Dr. Starks helps the staff, boards, and volunteers doing that work look at their own identity and the community's, and lead from there.
For organizations working on justice directly, he brings his research and his years inside the criminal justice system to sessions on what happens to families when someone is arrested, held on bail, incarcerated, or coming home.
"Be the Messenger, and understand how each one of us can do our part to address structural inequality where and when we see it."
Dr. Brian Chad StarksHis work in communities
Training, keynotes, and board service, much of it in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Greenville, South Carolina.
- April 2023League of Women Voters of Falmouth, Massachusetts
"Inclusion in the Democratic Process."
- 2020 to 2022DRIVE, the Greater Fresno Region, California
"Be the Messenger: Dismantling Economic Injustice," a training series for DRIVE's senior leadership on eliminating economic disparities in Fresno.
- 2019 to 2020Laverne Adolfo Transitional Housing Program, Sacramento
Consultant to a transitional housing program for former foster youth.
- July 2019Health Equity Fair, Greenville Technical College
Organized by BCS & Associates for young people in the Upward Bound program, with doctors, dentists, education specialists, barbers and beauticians, and nail technicians.
- 2019Shine the Light Non-Profit Forum, Greenville, South Carolina
"Strategic Diversity Leadership."
- 2017 to 2018I Know I Can Institute, Lynchburg
Founded in partnership with the City of Lynchburg to give high school students from low-income families educational opportunities, life skills, college preparation, job readiness, cultural experiences, and summer jobs.
- April 2018Lynchburg, Virginia
Workshop, "How to Create a Diverse and Inclusive Non-profit Organization."
- November 2017The Rotary Club of Lynchburg
"Implicit Bias: Disrupting Your Perceptual Lens."
- June 2017YWCA Central Virginia, Lynchburg
"Stereotypes and Implicit Bias."
- March 2016NAACP Lynchburg Branch, Virginia
Annual Fundraising Banquet keynote. The branch gave him its Civil Rights Achievement Award the same month.
- October 2015Self-Enhancement, Inc., Portland, Oregon
Talk to the entire 8th grade class on the value of education.
- 2015Board service in Lynchburg
Joined the Beacon of Hope board of directors in 2015, and served on the Big Brothers Big Sisters board from 2016 to 2018.
- July 2014Virginia Cares, Lynchburg Community Action Group
"Reentry and the Challenges You Face."
Organizations he has worked with
- NAACP Greenville Branch, South Carolina
- NAACP Lynchburg Branch, Virginia
- League of Women Voters of Falmouth, Massachusetts
- YWCA Central Virginia
- Virginia Cares (Lynchburg Community Action Group)
His work with these organizations includes consulting, speaking, training, academic and staff positions, leadership roles, research collaborations, and community service. A name on this list is not an endorsement.
How community organizations work with him
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Training for staff, boards, and volunteers
One session or a seriesBuilt on the four constructs and shaped to your mission and the community you serve, the way the DRIVE series was built around economic disparities in Fresno.
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Keynotes
Banquets, forums, summitsFor annual banquets, community forums, and youth and leadership summits.
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Strategic diversity leadership
Leadership teams and boardsWorking with leadership on the organization's own practices, its board, and its place in the community.
One Framework, applied to community work
Every engagement is built on the Be The Messenger Framework: four constructs, and the Messenger Method that runs underneath them. The Framework stays the same from one field to the next. What changes is how it is applied to the specific challenges, culture, professional responsibilities, and institutional conditions of the people in the room.
- IdentityWho you are
- CultureWhere you come from
- DiversityWhat connects us
- RespectHow you show up
The Messenger Method: Self-Reflection, Self-Awareness, and Self-Consciousness.
Request a proposal
Tell us about the organization, who would be in the room, and when. We will come back with a shape for the engagement.
- Your request goes to Dr. Starks' office.
- We reply with availability and set up a short call to shape the engagement.
- You get a proposal, a W-9, and anything else your finance office needs.
Rather talk first? Book a training consultation or a keynote and speaking call.
Prefer email or phone? info@brianchadstarks.com or 434-329-9002.