Barbara

Find out how Barbara's STAR status guided her career within the nonprofit sector and how lived experience can be the most powerful credential of all.

Coming of age during the Civil Rights Movement, Barbara was one of six Black female students who lived on her college campus. The pressures of being a young mother in an inhospitable environment forced her out of college and she worked in factory jobs to make ends meet. Outside work hours, she began to volunteer at an urban ministry center and at a women’s resource center to build her skills for a better job.

Her work delivering services and starting support groups helped her find a government job. Though she did not particularly enjoy it, she stayed for 12 years because it offered the income and stability she needed to take care of her family and pursue her interest in helping people. When her daughter had a mental health crisis, Barbara redoubled her commitment to children’s mental health care and left her job to start a non-profit to support families of children with special needs.

“So I went from being focused on children’s mental health to becoming an advocate for any family with a child who has special needs.” Barbara learned all aspects of running a non-profit organization – from writing grants to making payroll. Now, with over 35 years of experience as a child and family advocate for children who have special needs and their families, including mental and behavioral health concerns, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and special health care needs, she is a respected advocate, trainer, and facilitator, recognized in the State of North Carolina and beyond.

Read more STAR stories

Paige

Paige

Dau'ne

Dau'ne

Sara

Sara

Jodee

Jodee

Mario

Mario

Brandon

Brandon

Georgette

Georgette

Charmagne

Charmagne

Kelly

Kelly

Cale

Cale

Jon

Jon

Alisha

Alisha

Shanel

Shanel

Mark

Mark

Sheronda

Sheronda

Darryl

Darryl

Jay

Jay

Lawrence

Lawrence

Sheree

Sheree

Ansaer

Ansaer

Jonte

Jonte

Jonathan

Jonathan

Tayshawn

Tayshawn

Casey

Casey

Taylor

Taylor

Ali

Ali

Danielle

Danielle

Meghan

Meghan

Micah

Find out how Army veteran Micah built his own business from the ground up and how problem-solving became the foundation of everything he's built.

Micah

Sean

See how Sean's STAR status led to his thriving career as a 3D chalk artist and ice and snow sculptor on his own terms.

Sean

Lakisha

See how Lakisha built a successful administrative career through sheer work ethic and the hard-won confidence to know her own worth.

Lakisha

Mark

Find out how a childhood love of food inspired Mark's culinary management career, built entirely through empathy, practice, and hard work.

Mark

Dalton

See how Dalton is building two careers at once through hands-on learning and how he's channeling his emergency response skills into a growing media platform.

Dalton

Erika

Read about how Erika's STAR status and hands-on experience earned her a quality Technician role and how she continues to defy expectations every day.

Erika

Sam

See how Sam applied decades of relentless curiosity and hands-on learning into a career that defies any single job title.

Sam

Jamie

Find out how a work-study program became the launchpad for Jamie's career.

Jamie

Thaddaeus

Read about how Thaddaeus's STAR status landed him a position as a university IT Specialist, where his self-taught tech skills and passion for helping others are his greatest credentials.

Thaddaeus

Kent

See how Army veteran Kent built an entire tech career through mentorship, persistence, and problem solving.

Kent

Laura

Read how Laura's willingness to keep learning is the credential that keeps opening doors.

Laura

Katy

Find out how Katy made one of the most unexpected career leaps around, and now helps others do the same.

Katy

Lynnette

See how Lynnette turned a hobby into a business while embracing entrepreneurship in retirement.

Lynnette

Barbara

Find out how Barbara's STAR status guided her career within the nonprofit sector and how lived experience can be the most powerful credential of all.

Barbara

Carmen

Find out how Carmen is building toward owning her own home health agency, one skill at a time, without a four-year degree.

Carmen

Quinn

See how military veteran Quinn is challenging employers to value experience over credentials.

Quinn

Daquan

Read how Daquan's self-taught skills as a home health aide and carpenter built a career that no one can ever take away from him.

Daquan

Tadarius

Find out how Tadarius turned a moment of crisis into a calling, guided by lived experience and hard-earned certifications.

Tadarius

Mary

Read about Mary's philosophy on people-first leadership and how integrity and empathy can define a career, even without a degree.

Mary

Elizabeth

See how Elizabeth found her calling as an employment counselor, helping formerly incarcerated job seekers reclaim their futures.

Elizabeth

Debrena

Find out how self-advocacy and a self-taught mindset launched Debrena's QA engineering career.

Debrena

Courtney

Find out how Courtney made the career leap from construction to IT client services.

Courtney

Ricky

See how learning to fail became Ricky's secret to building a career in acting and coaching.

Ricky

Robert

See how Robert's work ethic carried him from a skate shop to corporate merchandising and shaped him into an empathetic leader.

Robert

Carol

See how Carol built an art business entirely on her own terms by utilizing her strong work ethic and on-the-job experience.

Carol

Reyna

Read about how Reyna's STAR status is leading her path toward computer science and a dream of building a platform for low-income youth, powered entirely by grit and on-the-job learning.

Reyna

Sharon

After observing how firms overlooked colleagues without degrees, see how Sharon transitioned into her role as Billing Coordinator by investing in herself at every turn.

Sharon

Erin

Read about how Erin's STAR status landed her a position as an Internal Audit Manager... without a bachelor's degree.

Erin

Write your story

Every time STARs speak out, more people realize they're part of this 70-million-strong community.

Share now
Who are STARs?

Join Our Newsletter

Sign up for exclusive insights, industry news, upcoming webinars, and events.

Submit
Thank you for signing up! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.