Join us on Wednesday, March 5, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. for a Civic Café featuring Amy Blouin, MSW, the founder, president, and CEO of the Missouri Budget Project, and Anna Shabsin, JD MSW, Assistant Dean for Social Policy at the Brown School.
After a pivotal general election year, the Missouri General Assembly, or Legislative Branch, is well into its 2025 session. From bills relating to foster children, tax cuts, housing choice vouchers, education, public safety, and gender, this legislative session has the potential to have significant impacts on all aspects of our lives. We invite you to join us for a rundown of the 2025 Missouri legislative session to learn about the bills with a likelihood to pass and how you can make your opinions heard.
Amy Blouin will speak to her work with the Missouri Budget Project, a nonprofit, objective, public policy analysis organization that provides independent research on complex state policy issues and how they impact all Missourians. The Missouri Budget Project works to enhance the ability of all Missourians to participate in the public debate and ensure that advocates, policy makers and the public have the information needed to create sound fiscal policies.
This event is co-sponsored by the Brown School’s Master of Social Policy program.
About our speaker:
Amy Blouin founded the Missouri Budget Project in 2003 and serves as its President & CEO. Amy has a Master of Social Work from St. Louis University (1996), and a BA in Political Science and Religious Studies from Loras College, Dubuque Iowa (1991). Amy previously served as the Director of Advocacy for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and as Government Relations Staff for the United Way of Greater St. Louis. Amy has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Saint Louis University, spent time working in Central America and with the Iowa Department of Economic Development European Office in Frankfurt, Germany. Amy has worked on state tax and fiscal policy issues for more than 25 years and has received regional and statewide recognition for her work. In 2012, the St. Louis Business Journal named Amy “One of the Most Influential St. Louisans.” Other awards include a “40 Under 40” award from the St. Louis Business Journal and the Missouri Women’s Network 2010 Award for Advancing Women’s Equality.
A two-time recipient of the Brown School’s Excellence in Teaching Award, Anna Goldfarb Shabsin is passionate about issues related to social welfare and their interplay with politics, advocacy, and policy. She serves as the Assistant Dean for the Master of Social Policy program and as Chair of the MSW Policy Specialization. She also teaches classes in law and policy in Washington University’s Prison Education Project. Shabsin oversees the university’s dual-degree JD/MSW program and serves as a faculty advisor for both MSP, MSW, and dual JD/MSW students. She is the university’s Safe Zone trainer for all faculty and staff. Shabsin is also an independent consultant, having designed and facilitated workshops for many notable clients including Twain Financial and Kaiser Permanente. Prior to joining the Brown School, she practiced law for ten years.
Civic Cafe is a weekly event series that occurs every Wednesday evening at Stix House, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Students of every level and discipline are invited to attend. Learn, eat, and meet other civically-minded individuals.
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While not required, RSVP’s assist our team in ordering enough food. Please RSVP on the event page to reserve your spot. If you can no longer attend, please email gephardtinstitute@wustl.edu to cancel your RSVP.