EMSTAR Research
Debi Starnes operates Sugar Magnolia, a bed and breakfast in a beautifully restored Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic Inman Park neighborhood. Long an active member of the city’s political and cultural life, she served as an advisor to Mayor Shirley Franklin, as well as several terms on the Atlanta City Council. Debi Starnes serves as president of EMSTAR Research, Inc., which she established in 1988, shortly after she earned her Ph.D. in community and organizational psychology from Georgia State University. EMSTAR works with a broad range of organizations including government agencies, community-based organizations, and institutions. The firm evaluates programs involving mental health, homelessness, education, physical health, juvenile justice, substance abuse, and several other issues of concern to modern urban communities. It can evaluate an organization’s development in terms of its own critical needs as well as those of the community it serves. Once those needs are determined, EMSTAR further works with clients to structure their resources to best meet them. Beyond organizational development, EMSTAR also evaluates the various programs these organizations offer, both in terms of process and outcome evaluation and economic evaluation. EMSTAR's user-friendly reports document success and provide recommendations for improvement. The firm can help organizations with a diverse range of research needs, including data collection and management, quality assurance, and data analysis (both quantitative and qualitative). It also assists with logic model development, grant writing, literature reviews, and workshop development and presentation. A certified woman-owned small business, EMSTAR follows the principles of community psychology. This ensures ecologically valid and empowerment-focused work, as well as a product that is action-oriented, strengths-based, and culturally competent. A more thorough discussion of EMSTAR’s work is available on the company’s website at www.EMSTARResearch.com.