Experience/education: Starr brings 25+ years of communications and strategic planning expertise across the private, nonprofit, foundation, and public sectors. She served 6+ years under Mayor Newsom and Mayor Lee, advising them on health and human services policy for the City and County of San Francisco and leading stakeholder engagement for key policy initiatives. She then spent 7 years leading a team under the Community Engagement and Risk Communications (CERC) contract for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In this role, she helped FEMA’s Risk Analysis branch coordinate with local, state and federal partners to build a better understanding of flood risk and identify a path forward to community resilience. Past work for other mission-driven organizations include the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG), the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and her work as a former board member and current committee member for United WE, a nonprofit committed to empowering women and girls. Bachelor’s in English from Princeton University; Masters in Public Policy from UC Berkeley.

Skills: Listening, community outreach and engagement, change management, strategic planning and facilitation, data analysis and translation to plain language, public policy assessment and development.

How I find Equilibrium: I love purpose-driven work that challenges my brain. I balance that with being present for my parents - who were 100% there for me as I grew up - and for my twins. I am a single mother by choice, so finding balance takes some effort, but is well worth it. Sources of joy: family and friends, being outside, having people gather around a table for a meal, and staying active (running for fun; running after my kids, our puppy, the guinea pigs, etc).

Connect with me: ​​starr@eqcollab.org