An undergraduate leadership program at WashU helped Anne Filipic ’04 cement her passion for community service—a passion that took her to the White House, and now to her career as a national leader in the fight to end poverty and hunger.
In August, Filipic was hired as Chief Executive Officer of Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization that runs campaigns like No Kid Hungry and Cooking Matters.
“Share Our Strength’s tireless commitment to make sure no child goes hungry, coupled with its emerging focus on creating paths to economic opportunity for families is a powerful combination for lasting change,” she said.
It’s her latest role in an impressive post-WashU career that’s decorated with national civic efforts.
While an undergrad at WashU, Filipic joined the Summer Leaders Program, offered by the former Office of Student Activities (now Campus Life). At that time, the Community Service Program that later evolved into the Gephardt Institute was part of this effort and Stephanie Kurtzman, Peter G. Sortino Executive Director of the Gephardt Institute, had the opportunity to work with Anne.
“I remember Anne as an exceptional student leader and she has clearly built a remarkable career of civic leadership and impact,” she said. “She is a great model for our current students and other alumni aspiring to lead change.”
Summer Leaders was a cohort-based program in which Filipic stayed at WashU over the summer for an internship with a campus department. She participated in leadership training and did preparation work for her student group, Dance Marathon—which raises funds annually for Children’s Miracle Network.
But that was far from the end of Filipic’s civic engagement. Filipic became a field director for the 2008 Barack Obama campaign, before joining his administration in 2009 with the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2011, she formally joined the White House as deputy director of public engagement. Then in 2021, she joined the Biden Administration as Assistant to the President and Director of Management and Administration. She also served as an executive for the Democratic National Committee, President of Enroll America, and Chief Program Officer for the Obama Foundation.
With Share our Strength, Filipic leads a multi-faceted strategy to make sure that children and their families have access to meals through schools and community providers. She intends to focus on addressing the root causes of poverty, especially building economic opportunities for families.
“As we navigate the changing needs of children and families, this is a unique opportunity to join a thriving organization that is poised to take its success to the next level,”
Anne Filipic