In St. Louis, For St. Louis

This spring, WashU Philanthropy Lab students granted a total of $68,000 to nine St. Louis community nonprofit organizations, including $10,000 to A Red Circle. The strength of the organization—along with the advocacy work led by one student in the class, St. Louis Fellow Mason Shaver—resulted earlier this month in the nonprofit being granted an additional $50,000 by The Philanthropy Lab, a national organization.

Mary and Tom Stillman are the recipients of the 2024 Jane and Whitney Harris St. Louis Community Service Award. Chancellor Andrew D. Martin presented the Stillmans with the award at a June 5 luncheon at the Whittemore House. Mary McKay, vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at Washington University in St. Louis, hosted the event. The Harris Award committee selects a couple to receive the annual award, which was established in 2000 in honor of the late Jane and Whitney Harris to recognize couples who contribute to the betterment of the greater St. Louis community.

Four members of the Washington University in St. Louis community are recipients of the St. Louis Business Journal’s 2024 Champions for Diversity & Inclusion Awards.

On July 9, the St. Louis entrepreneurial community came together for St. Louis Inno’s Fire Awards, which recognizes the innovators shaping the entrepreneurial ecosystem and applauds companies and organizations growing their teams, launching new products, and positively impacting society. The companies recognized include five WashU alumni, and we are thrilled to see their continued commitment to St. Louis and the impact their startups are having on the local ecosystem and beyond.

In “Radical Atlas of Ferguson, USA,” which will be released by Belt Publishing Aug. 6, Professor Patty Heyda from Washington University in St. Louis utilized more than 100 maps to chart the often-opaque forces that have shaped Ferguson, Missouri, and other first-ring American suburbs since the early 1980s. Tax incentives, housing codes, roadways, policing, philanthropy, even landscaping — all can work against the fundamental betterment of residents’ lives.

Seven films created by WashU students will be featured in the 24th annual St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase in 2024. Organized by Cinema St. Louis, the festival highlights work written, directed, edited and/or produced by St. Louis natives and by those with strong local ties.

In a world where healthcare often operates on rigid schedules and within traditional settings, there exists a growing need to adapt to the realities of those who cannot easily access or adhere to such structures. This is where organizations like Street Med STL step in, redefining healthcare delivery by taking it to the streets, quite literally.

Mohamed A. Zayed, MD, PhD, a vascular surgeon known for his pioneering research in vascular diseases, has been appointed director of the newly established Division of Surgical Sciences in the Department of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He will assume his new role July 1.

Members of the Washington University in St. Louis community are among those selected by Focus St. Louis, the region’s premier leadership organization, to participate in its 2024-25 civic leadership programs. Lindsey Alt, director of leadership development and of the Institute for Leadership Excellence in the Office of Human Resources, and Sean Armstrong, dean of the School of Continuing & Professional Studies, were selected among 60 local leaders.

Experiences with St. Louis organizations led WashU alumna Samantha Searls to a career in advocating for immigrants. Now a program director at Cincinnati’s Ignite Peace, with a focus on immigrant rights, Searls was named one of the city’s 10 Women of the Year for 2023.