We couldn’t do what we do without our amazing community partners, who work tirelessly to make St. Louis a more just, equitable, and beautiful place. Spend a little time here to read about a few of our partners and what they do.
Arch City Defenders: ArchCity Defenders (ACD) is a holistic legal advocacy organization that combats the criminalization of poverty and state violence, especially in communities of color. ACD’s foundation of civil and criminal legal representation, social services, impact litigation, policy and media advocacy, and community collaboration achieves and inspires justice and equitable outcomes for people throughout the St. Louis region and beyond.
BALSA Foundation: The BALSA Foundation’s mission is to promote social equity and prosperity in the St. Louis region by empowering first-time entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses.
Challenger Learning Center – St. Louis: The Challenger Learning Center – St. Louis is dedicated to inspiring future generations of innovators through space mission simulations and other STEM education programs. It is part of a worldwide network of over 40 Centers founded by the families of the astronauts tragically lost during the 1986 Challenger space shuttle mission.
earthday365: earthday365’s mission is to inspire and mobilize a collaborative movement towards an equitable and environmentally sustainable St. Louis region – every day.
EarthWays Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden: The Earthways Center is a group devoted to an increasingly vital goal: conservation of energy and other natural resources for the future, otherwise known as “sustainability”—meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs presentations about the many ways that plants, air, water, soil and energy sustain our homes, our health and our living Earth.
Education Equity Center of St. Louis: The Education Equity Center fosters a regional approach to racial equity in education through convening, capacity building and systems change. Their mission is to build a coalition of anti-racist educators and students who lead the systemic change needed for a fully equitable educational system in the St. Louis region.
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis: The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has a mission to improve business opportunities for Hispanic firms and professionals thereby improving the economic development of the St. Louis region.
Home Sweet Home: The mission of Home Sweet Home is to give under-served families a sense of pride and to improve the quality of their lives by providing basic household furnishings.
Just Moms STL: Just Moms STL is dedicated to protecting their families and our futures from further exposures to radioactive and toxic waste from the Manhattan Project era, specifically the Superfund site known as West Lake Landfill.
One West Florissant: The mission of One West Florissant is to uplift community and stakeholder voices for a safe, beautiful corridor where youth, families, and businesses thrive. This committee plans to work alongside local leaders and decision makers to directly implement the community’s feedback as the years-long redevelopment project along West Florissant Avenue (in North St. Louis County) begins.
Professor Bob Hansman: Bob Hansman is known for giving bus tours to Wash U students, faculty, and administrators, to St. Louis community members, and even to visitors, showcasing the racial history of St. Louis. This touches on housing segregation, the GI bill, eminent domain use, healthcare inequities, educational inequities, hunger and poverty, and even lack of access, in communities of color, to safe places for children to play or swimming pools for children to learn water safety.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell: Wesley Bell advocates that every person should have equal rights and opportunities within the criminal justice system. He is an advocate for ending mass incarceration, eliminating ‘debtors’ prison’ practices, and rebuilding trust between communities and the prosecutor’s office. These shifts are based in data driven policy that further increases public safety by making sure violent crimes are vigorously prosecuted and those needing treatment for addiction or mental health have access to appropriate care.