Project Northstar is a one-on-one tutoring and mentoring program for children in grades K-12 who are homeless or living in foster care or in poor, underserved neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. The program was founded in 1989 by a multi-racial coalition of young community leaders from the Coalition of 100 Black Women, Concerned Black Men, and three law firms and has served more than 1500 children.  Project Northstar affiliated with The Martin Pollak Project, Inc. (MPP) in 2009 and is now known as Project Northstar of The Martin Pollak Project, Inc.

Mission   Our mission is to help children overcome barriers to achievement in school and promote academic success.  The program links a racially diverse group of volunteer tutor/mentors with Washington DC at-risk children in one-on-one tutoring sessions.  Each child does homework with his or her tutor and receives any extra help he or she needs in the fundamentals, especially reading or math.  We create a supportive community where learning can take place.   Each person is respected and education and achievement are valued.   Project Northstar’s goal is to prepare children to perform better in school by providing them with educational assistance, positive role models, consistency, and extracurricular activities that broaden their horizons.

The Volunteers   At the heart of Project Northstar’s efforts are the volunteer tutor/mentors committed to the welfare of children living in the District. Tutors are professionals in law, biology, photography, dance, government, engineering, documentary film-making, and economics.  Each tutor commits to working with one child for one full year.

The Project Northstar tutoring/mentoring model has a track record of success. Students who receive mentoring and tutoring do better in school than those who receive only tutoring. In 2009-2010, mentoring activities included trips to the National Zoo for the African-American Easter Egg Roll, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, and many Smithsonian museums. Mentoring activities open the door to new worlds and give students a deepened sense of belonging in Washington, D.C.  

Project Northstar also organizes group activities including a holiday party, a spring party, an end-of-year picnic, and trips to sporting and cultural events.

Project Northstars’ Impact   Ninety-five percent of PN students were promoted to the next grade at the end of the school year.  Seventy-eight percent had report card grades that indicated improvement in the subjects in which they were tutored.  One hundred percent of the students and the tutors said they enjoyed being in the program!    

 Donate to Project Northstar 

Donate to Project Northstar by credit card:

1. Click on the “Network for Good” logo near the top of

     this webpage 

2. On the next page, click “Donate Now”

        3. On the page that comes onto your screen, fill out all 

             of the boxes and under "Designation" type

            "Project Northstar"

        4. Press “Continue” at the bottom of 

             the page and complete the transaction

Donate to Project Northstar by check:

1.   Make out the check to “The Martin Pollak

      Project, Inc.” and on the

      memo/designation line, write "Donation 

      for Project Northstar"    

        2.   Mail the check to:  

The Martin Pollak Project, Inc.

Attn: Richard Norman

3701 Eastern Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21224

Please contact Richard Norman at RNorman@mppi.org or 800-590-1145 for more information about monetary and in-kind donations (e.g., books, art supplies).

Please contact Jennifer Townsend at