Last year, GivingTuesday announced the Starling Collective, designed to identify and support grassroots leaders working to accelerate innovative approaches to catalyzing generosity, empathy, equity, and justice, the Starling Collective was open to individuals and organizations to apply from all over the world. Over 2,000 applications were submitted from 93 countries.

50 applicants representing 29 countries were selected to participate in the program. While the selected projects offer a wide range of approaches and issue areas, they all share a common mission of creating a positive impact in their communities, with a focus on innovation and scalability. We are proud to share two of projects selected are led by Canadians:



THE DOWNSVIEW YOUTH COVENANT

Evadne Wilkinson is working to launch a new program focused on African and Caribbean arts and cultural enrichment for children of African descent.



MAKEFLIX

Emily Churchill-Smith aims to accelerate the impact of Makeflix, a creative clothing repair project that uses repair as a holistic approach to engaging with the environment, digital communities, and intergenerational knowledge.



“The Starling Collective aims to break down traditional barriers to resources and networks that often exclude underrepresented voices, grassroots movement-builders, and community organizers. These are the very voices we need to invite into the conversation about creating meaningful change. I can’t wait to learn from them.” Asha Curran, CEO of GivingTuesday

Click here to meet all the Starling grassroots leaders driving change in their communities.