NorthStar Liberatory Training Collective

Since 2019, the NorthStar Liberatory Training Collective has prepared BIPOC young adults ages 17-24 to develop and implement healing-centered and trauma-informed practices within learning spaces such as public schools and youth organizations. Nearly 40 Northstar alumni have led workshops for hundreds of educators and youth workers on healing-centered practices.

Program Focus

• Explores issues related to the prison industrial complex, policing, and the school-to-prison pipeline
• Learn abolitionist and transformative justice tools and strategies to create healing-centered spaces for young people
• Participants both practice and learn how to teach these practices to others
• Harnessing the symbolic legacy of the slavery abolition movement of the 19th century, the name "Northstar" characterizes a persistent desire for freedom and a dependence on a radical sense of imagination

Trauma-Informed Care Framework

Trauma-informed care takes into account the impacts of trauma on an individual's mental, emotional and physical well being. It emphasizes the support and treatment of the whole person, instead of treating specific symptoms and behaviors. Research demonstrates that addressing the root of trauma will significantly change the course of a person's life.

Healing Justice

"Healing justice is the practice of reimagining wholeness at the intersection of intergenerational trauma, current structures of oppression, and a generative and co-created future.

2023 Program Information

Timeline:

• January 7: Application opens
• February 11: Application deadline
• February 13-17: Interviews
• February 18: 12 applicants selected
• February 25: Program begins
• Runs every Saturday until May 6

Schedule: Every Saturday from March 18 to May 27, 10am to 4pm, hybrid in-person and virtual sessions

Eligibility

• Age: BIPOC-identified young adults ages 17-24
• Location: Chicago Freedom School office, South Loop

Compensation

Stipend: $1,000

• Lunch and snacks provided

Program Components

• Retreat: April 28-30
• Closing Celebration: May 27

Contact Information

• Email: info@chicagofreedomschool.org
• Phone: 312-435-1201
• Address: 1727 S. Indiana Ave. Suite G02A, Chicago, IL 60616
• Website: chicagofreedomschool.org
• Space is wheelchair accessible

Status

Note: As of the 2023 announcement, Northstar was no longer accepting applications for the 2023 cohort. Current application status unknown.

Application Process

1. Submit online application by deadline
2. Interviews conducted (dates vary by cohort year)
3. Selected applicants notified
4. Program begins on scheduled date

2023 Timeline

• January 7: Application opens
• February 11: Application deadline
• February 13-17: Interview period
• February 18: 12 applicants selected
• February 25: Program begins

Required Materials

• Online application form (specific required materials not detailed in provided content)