Starlight North Star Community of Practice
What is the North Star Community of Practice?
Starlight’s “North Star” Community of Practice invites leaders of color from the end-of-life field to meet each other in a place of exploration, learning, and mutual resourcing around the questions:
“How can we expand our understanding and acceptance of the constellation of providers supporting people of color at end-of-life?”
“What might we need to do as individuals and institutions to better serve people of color navigating end-of-life?”
“What role does identity (both mine, as a provider, and that of my patients) play in the end-of-life experience of the people of color I serve?”
What does the North Star Community of Practice include?
Over the course of two years, participants will work together to map the field’s current approach to whole person care as it relates to the end-of-life experience for people of color and identify gaps and key areas where progress can be made. Through both internal group discussions and the leaders taking these discussions back to their colleagues, institutions, and communities, participants will define the problem, explore their personal parts in perpetuating it, and identify opportunities for change.
From here, the group will work on determining what solutions could be strategically and sustainably implemented within their individual work/practice, the work of their organizations and/or in their interactions with their wider communities.
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Cohort environment and support
Starlight “North Star” Community of Practice participants will connect and learn within an intimate cohort of entrepreneurs, leaders, changemakers, and peers in end-of-life (EOL) care. The group will engage in collaborative learning, problem-solving, and tracking progress on collectively-set objectives. These objectives are all specifically focused on answering questions related to POC’s experiences navigating end-of-life care and the roles we play in delivering whole person care.
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Customized learning modules and integration
Each module will include a blend of guided individual reflection, small group dialogue, and full-group discussions. Together, we will explore and deepen our understanding of the end-of-life ecosystem in Los Angeles for People of Color. In the culmination of these sessions, PAUSE and the program participants will clarify and align around our personal and collective "North Stars" - the guiding values and visions for improving the EOL experience for POC communities.
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A grounding and nourishing space
The “North Star” CoP strives to provide a grounding and nourishing space for end-of-life professionals who hold so much, so often. The monthly group meetings allow participants to come together, slow down, reflect, and be resourced by each other. Through shared grounding practices and the power of collective presence, we will tend to our own inner landscapes as we care for others.
Program Structure
Phase 1: Learning & Reflecting
The Starlight "North Star" Community of Practice is a 7-month journey designed to foster connection, reflection, and collective growth. The community will gather in person once a month for a 3-hour session, creating a consistent container for meaningful engagement.
Each module will include a blend of guided individual reflection, small group dialogue, and full-group discussions. Together, we will explore and deepen our understanding of the end-of-life ecosystem in Los Angeles for People of Color. In the culmination of these sessions, PAUSE and the program participants will clarify and align around our personal and collective "North Stars" - the guiding values and visions for improving the EOL experience for POC communities.
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Guiding question: Who are we (as a collective) and how do we show up in this work?
Learning objective: Share personal information, experience, and history about ourselves to familiarize the group with each other’s lives, identities, and work.
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Guiding question: What is whole person care? What does it look like in practice, particularly for the way POC support each other in their communities and their family structures?
Learning objective: Examine the concept and practice of whole person care through various learning activities.
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Guiding question: What are the experiences of POC professionals who provide end-of-life care? How do these experiences impact the practice of whole person care applied at EOL?
Learning objective: Identify sources of barriers and resilience for POC EOL professionals and explore opportunities to expand their capacity to deliver whole person care.
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Guiding question: What does the current end-of-life experience look like for POC in California? How is the practice of whole person care applied at EOL?
Learning objective: Map the stakeholder network. Apply our understanding of whole person care to analyze how it impacts the EOL experience for POC.
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Guiding question: What do POC in California want and need to have their end-of-life needs met?
Learning objective: Learn about the desires of POC by directly listening to their stories. Examine and critique our existing understanding of what POC desire for their end-of-life experiences.
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Guiding question: How does identity (race + culture) factor into the ways we receive care, seek care, engage care providers for EOL related issues? What barriers are in place preventing folks from accessing their desired end-of-life experience?
Learning objective: Identify how identity impacts the EOL experience for POC. Define what the existing barriers are. Analyze and critique the existing barriers. Discuss and acknowledge our part in creating and dismantling/addressing those barriers.
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In-person Monthly Sessions:
Frequency: 1 session/month in person
Location: In person in Los Angeles; official meeting location TBA
Duration: 3 hours/session
Total In-Person Session Time: 21 hours over 7 months
Session dates
Module 0 – September 4, 2025
Module 1 – October 2, 2025 from
Module 2 – November 6, 2025
Module 3 – December 2, 2025
Module 4 – January 8, 2026
Module 5 – February 5, 2026
Module 6 – March 5, 2026
Additional Commitments:
Pre-work (optional or required per module): ~30 minutes/month
Reflection or journaling (encouraged): ~15–30 minutes/month
Optional peer exchanges or check-ins: ~1 hour/month
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Participants are expected to:
Attend all monthly sessions and actively engage in discussions and activities.
Attendance Policy: 2 excused absence is permitted. If a session is missed, participants will set up a 1:1 meeting with the Program Manager to determine the best ways to make up missed activities/material.
Approach the space with openness, respect, and a willingness to explore both personal and professional dimensions of end-of-life work.
Maintain confidentiality and uphold collective safety within the group.
Participate in feedback and evaluation processes to inform future phases of the program.
Bring stories, questions, and reflections that can contribute to the collective learning.
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To fully benefit from the program, participants will need:
Protected time to attend monthly sessions (3 hours, plus limited pre/post work).
Supervisor approval and acknowledgment of the program as part of the participant’s professional development.
Ongoing support from participant’s institutions/organizations (i.e., supervisors) in integrating the program material within their institutions/communities.
Recognition of the emotional and reflective nature of the work and support for any processing or integration that may occur after sessions.
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Throughout Phase 1 of the “North Star” CoP, participants will be building their foundations to prepare for Phase 2: Applications & Blueprints and Phase 3: Development, Learning, and Implementation. One of the “North Stars” of this Community of Practice is to tangibly and actively integrate the program material into their own work, institutions, and communities. Some examples can include:
Being in conversation with colleagues between module sessions
Reflecting with peer partners
Reflecting with assigned small groups that we assign them
Keeping a field journal to document observations, reflections, and experiences to share during module sessions
Phase 2: Applications & Blueprints
After defining the barriers, confronting our personal parts in perpetuating them, and opportunities for change, the group will work on determining what solutions could be strategically and sustainably implemented individually, within their orgs, and within their communities. Participants will individually and collectively define what upskilling and development opportunities could best serve them on their journey to expanding the ways they support POC in their work.
Phase 3: Development, Learning, and Implementation
Participants will participate in individual learning opportunities, group learning opportunities (modules, workshops, etc. hosted within the program), and have the opportunity to co-design products (referral database, etc.) with PAUSE and partner organizations. This phase is all about doing the work, learning, practicing, and growing.
Phase 4: Retrospective & Iteration
The participants, PAUSE team, and partners will collectively review the learnings, products, and experience of the program and development phase. The period of reflection will involve providing feedback on what worked, didn’t work, and what could be improved upon.
Phase 5: Long-term Community of Practice & Residency engagement
Program Objectives
Identify and gather 24+ end-of-life and healthcare leaders who have sustained, long-term commitment to community-based sharing, learning, and problem-solving.
Define who and what support mechanisms a “constellation of care” includes/involves in relation to the end-of-life experience for POC in California.
Critically analyze the barriers to People of Color achieving the end-of-life experience they desire.
Develop and disseminate 1-2 innovative, culturally-informed tools and resources to support end-of-life providers in increasing their comfortability serving POC folks at end-of-life.
Collectively, the program participants and PAUSE will:
Design and disseminate 1-2 solutions over the course of the project, particularly focused on supporting providers in expanding their ability to make identity-focused referrals (ie. building a referral network, database, matching system).
Collaborate to design a long-term community of practice that supports all participants in the cohort through their ongoing learning, development, and growth journey.
Pilot a residency for participants who are looking for shorter-term project-specific support and a deepened network of partners for those projects. (Modeled after PAUSE’s existing Business Development Residency for early-stage entrepreneurs in the end-of-life field, but specifically focused on supporting folks that come out of this North Star CoP with unique project goals).
What will participants get out of this experience?
By the end of this program, participants will:
Identify the different stakeholders within EOL and grief care spaces and how each profession impacts patients' experiences.
Identify and categorize the benefits and barriers that Communities of Color have in accessing different stakeholders.
Articulate how patients' race, gender, class and sexuality influence where and how they access care, especially beyond formal healthcare systems.
Increase their capability for making culturally-sensitive/identity-based referrals, which also improves professionals' capacities.
Analyze what non-formalized education offers to disrupt formal care systems.
Analyze the colonial history of mental healthcare in America, and ways to disrupt it.
Build bonds with new connections working in adjacent fields
Eligibility and applying
Eligibility
LA-based People of Color who serve as providers working in the end-of-life, grief, and healthcare fields ~ including but not limited to:
Clinicians
Nurses
Other healthcare providers
Death Doulas
End-of-life planners
Hospice volunteers
Funeral professionals
Mental health professionals
Social workers
Grief coaches
Art therapists
Healers
Spiritual leaders
Our definitions
End of life: We expect applicants to work in the end of life space, which encompasses the full spectrum of dying, death, and grief experiences that individuals have at the end of their lives. “Dying” includes but is not limited to palliative care, hospice, doula services, and experience post-terminal diagnosis. “Death” includes but is not limited to funeral experience/services, death-related arrangements, and death-related rituals (cultural/religious). “Grief” includes but is not limited to personal grief experience, grief’s connection to mental health, public mourning, and grief-related rituals (cultural/religious).
People of Color/Communities of Color: Individuals from communities that identify as non-White. We currently primarily focus on serving and working with People of Color in the United States.
Who is encouraged to apply?
PAUSE encourages you to apply for the “North Star” Community of Practice if you are:
Seeking a meaningful outlet to explore the intersections of race, justice, and barriers to healthcare at the end of life.
Curious, motivated, and ready to translate ideas into tangible, actionable change within your organizations.
Representing an institution, organization, or community-based entity rooted in the end-of-life care industry.
Supported by at least one internal ally in the organization you’re representing (i.e., a colleague or supervisor who believes in their vision and is in a position to help implement the work).
Participant requirements and guidelines:
Availability to attend community of practice sessions and peer coaching sessions September 2025-March 2026
Must live or work anywhere within the greater Los Angeles region
Participants must have access to reliable transportation to in-person sessions and internet to attend virtual meetings
Participants must be 18+ years old
Interested in the program but find this page before applications are open? Please get in touch below.
