kirakiraきらきら
KiraKira is a social impact lab helping communities and movements shine.
We co-create research, stories, and strategies with organizations and changemakers working toward justice, sustainability, and collective resilience. Our name—KiraKira, meaning “sparkling” in Japanese—reflects our belief that the brightest solutions often come from the people closest to the problem.
We don’t just fix broken systems.
We imagine new ones.
Light Work
Sharing stories, hope, and brilliance from the margins to re-ignite vision and momentum.
Digital storytelling & campaign design
Content creation (zines, videos, creative writing)
Community spotlight series & storytelling workshops
Shadow Work
Examining what’s broken—burnout, erasure, injustice—and developing healing systems.
Movement infrastructure audits
Research & evaluation
Justice-centered policy & strategy development
Play Work
Designing games and interactive tools that make civic engagement, systems change, and sustainability fun, accessible, and youth-centered.
Game jams & workshops
Curriculum co-design with students
Media & toolkits for climate justice and social impact
Bridge Work
Connecting sectors, generations, and movements to build collaborative power.
Coalition strategy
Cross-sector convenings
Academic-practitioner partnerships
Who We Work With
Community-based organizations
Youth-led movements
Social & environmental justice nonprofits
Educators, artists, and researchers
Funders & intermediaries committed to systemic change
We envision a world where both people and the planet shine—where imagination is a tool for resistance, justice is joyful, and transformation is collective.
We believe:
Stories are blueprints for liberation
Systems thinking is healing
Hope is a renewable resource
Founder’s Letter:
I started this nonprofit to build something I could point to and say, “This is a collection of the people, ideas, and moments that give me hope.”
KiraKira began as a personal need—a way to stay grounded in a world that often feels overwhelming. Growing up, I held onto an idealistic view of what was possible, but I struggled to find proof of that ideal in everyday life. It wasn’t until I became involved in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life that I experienced what hope looked like in action. Through that work, I witnessed the power of community, remembrance, youth leadership, and celebration even in the face of grief. That experience changed me. It taught me that hope isn’t passive—it’s something we practice, build, and share.
KiraKira is my way of carrying that lesson forward.
We exist to illuminate the brilliance already present in people and movements, and to build tools that help communities imagine and create systems rooted in justice, joy, and sustainability. Whether through storytelling, games, advocacy, or research, our work is grounded in the belief that imagination is resistance, systems thinking is healing, and stories are blueprints for liberation.
This nonprofit is not just a project—it’s a practice in gratitude and wonder, a container for the kirakira moments that remind us what we’re fighting for. I hope it becomes that for others, too.