Kevin A.
STARLINGS
LATEST PUBLISH
Member, VUU Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education (KDP)
Presidential Member, National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS)
LETS DIVE INTO MY JOURNEY
“Redefining education means remembering the humanity within it.”
— Kevin A. Starlings
Standalones
These works stand on their own, exploring education, culture, and humanity through focused narratives and lived experience. Each book offers a distinct lens—personal, cultural, or reflective—while contributing to a deeper understanding of how people survive, resist, and reimagine learning.
They are singular stories with lasting impact.
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Kourage With A "K"
This is a story about becoming when life keeps breaking you. Through music, faith, failure, and second chances, Kevin A. Starlings tells a raw, redemptive journey of a boy learning how to survive—and a man learning how to heal. If you believe growth comes through struggle, this story will stay with you.
The Manual They
Never Gave US
Parenting doesn’t come with instructions—but it comes with pressure. This book offers honest stories, hard-earned lessons, and grace for parents doing the best they can without a roadmap. It’s not about perfection—it’s about showing up with love, even when you’re learning as you go.
Educate In Color™ Collection
Books confronting race, power, culture, and education.
The Way Out Had A Beat
Silence was never the solution—rhythm was. This book reveals how schools learned to praise quiet compliance while stripping away music, movement, and culture that helped children survive. It proves the way out was never silence—it had a beat.
Infrastructure, Not Enrichment
Children don’t need more programs. They need systems that sustain them. This book dismantles the myth of “enrichment” and makes the case that wellness, arts, and care are not extras—they are the infrastructure equity requires.
They Were Never Failing -
The System Is
Failure didn’t happen by accident. This book exposes how crisis, accountability, and reform are used to manufacture failure in Black and Brown communities—and call it improvement. It names the violence of policy without flinching.
The Human Equation Series
The Human Equation Series examines education at the systems level—where policy, wellness, and equity intersect. Grounded in real-world practice, these books show how meeting basic human needs and designing for care transform learning, leadership, and outcomes. This series offers a blueprint for building educational systems that work because they honor the people inside them.
Book One:
Origins
What if equity begins with meeting basic human needs? This book reveals how wellness, when treated as infrastructure rather than charity, reshapes learning, behavior, and opportunity. It lays the foundation for rethinking education through care, stability, and dignity.
Book Two:
Refilling The Future
Schools can’t pour from empty systems. This book examines burnout, depletion, and chronic scarcity in education—and shows how restoring capacity for students and educators is essential to sustainable change. It’s about refilling what schools have been forced to run without.
Book Three:
Off The Sidelines
What gets cut first often matters most. This book exposes how athletics, arts, and enrichment are treated as optional—while showing how they are critical pathways to belonging, regulation, and equity. It makes the case that access is not enrichment—it’s survival.
Book Four:
Balancing The Scales
You can’t talk equity without talking power. This book confronts how pay structures, labor decisions, and governance shape who stays, who leaves, and who bears the cost. It challenges readers to rethink fairness not as intention, but as design.
The Human Work Series
The Human Work Series centers the human labor of education—the emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and communal work required to teach and lead with care. These books explore how love, strategy, healing, and community come together to make schools places where people can truly belong and thrive. This is the work that makes education human again.
Book One: The Heart Work Reclaiming What Education Forgot
Education lost its humanity long before it lost its way. This book calls educators back to love, relationship, and dignity—reminding us that learning begins with being seen. It’s the foundation for anyone who believes schools should feel human again.
Book Two: The Head Work
Strategies That Stick in Real Classrooms
Care without strategy isn’t enough. This book translates heart into action, offering practical, realistic approaches that actually work in today’s classrooms. It’s for educators who want tools that honor both students and the realities of teaching.
Book Three: The Soul Work
Healing Ourselves as We Heal Education
You can’t heal systems without healing people. This book speaks to the quiet exhaustion, grief, and burnout educators carry—and offers space to reflect, restore, and reconnect with purpose. It’s about tending to the inner work that makes lasting change possible.
Book Four: The Village Work
Building Schools That Feel Like Home
Schools don’t thrive in isolation—children don’t either. This book reclaims the power of family, faith, and community, showing how education becomes transformative when the village is restored. It’s a blueprint for belonging beyond the classroom walls.
About Author
Kevin A. Starlings is, above all else, a father first—entrepreneur, advocate, educator, and author who believes deeply in the power of redemption, resilience, and opportunity. A man of faith and a firm believer in second chances, Kevin has dedicated his life to building equitable pathways for youth and families of all abilities. His work and leadership reflect a simple but powerful truth: every child has potential when given access, opportunity, and love. Through his unwavering commitment to helping others discover their purpose, rewrite their stories, and rise beyond their circumstances, Kevin continues to inspire communities to believe in what’s possible.
With over fifteen years of experience in business, education, workforce development, non-profit management and community development, Kevin A. Starlings has become a respected voice for inclusive education and community transformation. As the Founder and Executive Director of The Starlings Foundation, a Richmond-based 501(c)(3), he leads initiatives that strengthen families, redefine education, and create equitable pathways for youth and adults of all abilities. Through programs that bridge wellness, workforce readiness, business innovation, and advocacy, Kevin empowers individuals to grow, heal, and succeed—proving that when access and opportunity meet purpose, transformation follows.
Kevin’s leadership extends beyond his organization. He has proudly served as Chair of the Richmond Public Schools School Health Advisory Board (SHAB) and as a Community Advisory Board Member for VCU’s Hydrate RPS Initiative, a national NIH-backed water equity project. In addition, he has contributed his time and expertise to numerous boards and community coalitions dedicated to community & youth development, social justice, and public education. His dedication and impact have earned him multiple awards and recognitions for outstanding leadership and service to the community—including the distinguished Hometown Hero Award, honoring his unwavering commitment to creating lasting change in the lives of others in Richmond, Virginia.
A proud Panther of Virginia Union University, Kevin has studied Special Education, Business, and Psychology, combining his academic preparation with real-world experience to design programs that uplift both hearts and minds. He is also a member of the Minority Political Leadership Institute (MPLI) at VCU’s Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute, where he contributes to developing legislative proposals that promote civic engagement and educational equity for Virginia’s youth.
Beyond every title and accomplishment, Kevin’s greatest purpose is found in being a devoted father to his four children—who remain his daily motivation and the foundation of his work. His life stands as a living example of faith, family, and perseverance, and a reminder that transformation begins when we lead with love, believe in second chances, and never stop building pathways to purpose.
He lovingly dedicates his life’s work to his late Ma, Betty J. Brown, and Pop, Cornelius C. Brown, whose love, wisdom, and unwavering guidance shaped the man he is today.