On Sunday, February 12th, The Stardust-Startup Factory held its first meet-up; what an amazing gathering of our community! The 35 attendees included Advisory Board and Board of Directors members in addition to a micro-grant recipient, NOVA Community College Honors Program faculty and interns, and Stardust inner circle friends and family.

After an hour of informal “meet and greet”, we gathered for the screening of our new video ‘We Are Stardust”.  This was followed by an engaging presentation by NOVA Honors Program Director Dr. Paul Fitzgerald and NOVA/Stardust intern Katya Naiman who joined us via video call from Toronto.

Melissa LaReau, founder of Discover Unfold, gave a presentation to the group about the micro-grant application process and how Stardust support is helping Unfold in Uganda. We concluded with an hour of brainstorming activities to revisit and to clarify Stardust’s mission and vision, starting with why we do what we do rather than the what or how.

Thanks to Larissa Miller, owner and lead massage therapist of Dynamic Integrations Wellness of Tyson’s Corner, VA, for hosting the event. And thanks to Adam Wilkinson (DIW massage therapist) for the incredible chair massages he gave to attendees. Thanks to all who came!