The Phelps Stokes Fund is America's oldest continuously operating foundation serving the needs of African Americans, Native Americans, Africans and the rural and urban poor. The Fund is a 501(c) (3), nonprofit organization whose guiding motto is Education for Human Development. The logo, four open books, symbolizes the importance of education in promoting every aspect of human capacity building.

The Fund seeks to build bridges of intercultural, interracial, and international understanding and uses its modest endowment to finance core staff and the operations of its central office in Washington, DC. The Fund does not award grants to individuals or other organizations. Through the generosity of private donors, foundations, and corporations and through grants from local, state, and federal government agencies, the Fund is able to address a variety of educational needs.

Flint STAR Program

Mott Community College, Baker College of Flint and University of Michigan-Flint Partner Launches the Smart Teachers As Role models (STAR) Program

In a collaborative effort, Mott Community College, Baker College of Flint and the University of Michigan-Flint have just launched an innovative program designed to increase the diversity of those who pursue teaching as a career. The Flint STAR Program seeks promising and motivated students with a particular emphasis on those from underrepresented groups - including non-traditional students, those who are educationally or economically disadvantaged, and those from areas where the access to or success rates in teacher education training are significantly below the national average.  The STAR Program focuses on preparing students to become educational leaders and classroom teachers who understand the types of issues, barriers and inequities our children face every day.

STAR is an initiative that originated with the Washington, D.C.-based Phelps Stokes Fund, America’s oldest continuously operating foundation, whose guiding motto – Education for Human Development – signifies the importance of education in promoting every aspect of human capacity building.  The Flint STAR Program will be using national STAR resources to create a model specifically tailored for Flint and Genesee County, the designated Michigan pilot area. 

For more information about the Flint STAR Program or specific STAR program activities, please contact: Tracy Blackwell, STAR Program Director, (810) 449-0472

Smart Teachers As Role models

Flint STAR Cohort Group