Category: St. Louis Fellowship Program

WashU Votes co-chairs earn award, $5K grant for engagement efforts 

Last month, WashU Votes leaders Amelia Letson ‘25 and Hannah Pignataro ‘26 received a $5,000 grant in honor of their campus leadership.   The grant came from the Student Union Leadership Award, which WashU Student Union gives annually in recognition and support of outstanding student leaders. Throughout their leadership, they have demonstrated creative problem solving and […]

Neighborhood immersions and retreat bond Fellows with St. Louis, each other

When a WashU student becomes a St. Louis Fellow, they make a commitment to serve St. Louis effectively and responsibly, immersing themselves in the community and finding ways to contribute to positive progress in the region. As part of this commitment, St. Louis Fellows participate in Engage STL Days, during which they visit local neighborhoods […]

‘My job is to give back’: Campbell joins Gephardt staff

Dewitt Campbell was raised in the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood, mere blocks away from the Washington University campus. He fondly recalls frolicking across the campus as a kid—using his bike to jump stairs—and notes that WashU has always been part of his life.  Now, Campbell serves as the Manager of Civic Learning Initiatives at the Gephardt […]

Gephardt fall calendar packed with opportunities to engage and learn

The Gephardt Institute has a robust calendar of events and programming this fall to get students engaged.  These events help students learn how they can develop their civic skills, engage with the St. Louis community, and find ways to bring their civic passions and ideas to life. The institute’s programming brings people together and provides […]

At Cortex, Taylor works at the intersection of economics and inclusion

In July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published that for the first time in more than three decades, St. Louis ranked in the top 10 American metropolitan areas for job growth.  While that feat is no one’s alone to claim, the Cortex Innovation Community, a nonprofit dedicated to elevating the St. Louis economy, certainly […]

Seminars bring fellows to Eagleton Courthouse, Democracy Panel

Experiencing the nuances of local leadership and judicial impacts are an important part of student civic learning.  In the Gephardt Institute’s St. Louis Fellows Program, the Fellows engage in summer weekly seminars centered on civic engagement. While most of their sessions are at Stix House, two of the seminars took place off campus at the […]

STL ArtWorks bringing creative joy to kids with support of St. Louis Fellow

If you’ve ever passed a jolt of brightly colored art in St. Louis, there’s a chance that young apprentices created the piece in a two-story building on the Delmar Loop, just north of WashU’s campus and Forest Park.  And if you walk into that building this summer, one of the first people you’re likely to […]

Philanthropy Lab students successfully champion $50K for local nonprofit

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 […]

Yelamali brings healing through the arts program to Children’s Hospital

During the COVID pandemic, Aditya Yelamali ’24 was worried that patients at St. Louis Children’s Hospital lacked interaction and stimuli that could help them heal. Yelamali, a 2023 Fandos Fellow in the St. Louis Fellows program, created Hearts for Arts as a patient-driven solution that would transcend the pandemic.   “We coordinated with Melody Deweese, a […]

Spring trainings equip St. Louis Fellows with community-engaged best practices

The 2024 St. Louis Fellows have completed their spring training, immersive and experiential symposia that help equip them with the community engagement tools and knowledge to contribute to change efforts in the region this summer.   With the program expanding to a record 40 Fellows this year, Community Engagement Manager Sarah Nash was grateful that the […]

Institute announces new classes of Civic Scholars, St. Louis Fellows

A record number of WashU students committed to leading change now and throughout their lives by joining the Gephardt Institute’s Civic Scholars and St. Louis Fellows programs.   The announcement of the new cohorts of civic leadership programs follows a recruitment cycle that began last fall and saw more applications than ever before.   “We’re particularly excited […]

Notables: Da’Juantay Wynter; Spectrum Awards 

Gephardt-involved WashU students and alumni — including Student Engagement Specialist Sophie Devincenti, Donovan Dixson ’24, Sophie Lin ’26, Aspen Schisler ‘26, Charlie Shaw ’24, Laken Sylvander ‘17, Pat Wang ’24, and Da’Juantay Wynter ‘26 — were honored recently for their civic engagement efforts and community contributions.  Da’Juantay Wynter ‘26, a Mosbacher St. Louis Fellow, was […]

Students build on community impact with Partnership Extension grants

Last month with the launch of the St. Louis Impact Fund, the Gephardt Institute introduced Partnership Extension Grants. Civic Scholars and St. Louis Fellows spend the majority of their summer during the programs cultivating relationships with community partners to impact change. The Partnership Extension Grants help students maintain these connections and continue with important projects […]

Tori Harwell ‘24 named a Rhodes Scholar 

For Victoria “Tori” Harwell ’24, a 2022 St. Louis Fellow, their stellar success invokes not only celebration, but also reflection on the monumental hurdles their ancestors faced to create opportunities for their descendants.   On Saturday, Nov. 11, at an announcement event in Washington, D.C., Harwell learned that they were one of just 32 students in […]

Fellows build community while becoming champions for St. Louis

The 2023 St. Louis Fellows shared their experiences and learning from their summer internships with local nonprofit and government organizations. It was part of Civic Action Week held this month.   Community partners, family, friends, supporters, and the WashU community were invited to the first St. Louis Fellows Showcase, held on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Stix […]

Alumni Spotlight: Tishiya “T” Carey ’21

“It’s important to continue to build on things, it’s important to understand the context. It’s important to fully understand, I think, the impact of what it is that you want to do, what it is you’re trying to do, and how you’re trying to do it.”  After graduating from WashU in 2021, Tishiya “T” Carey […]

MAAY Foundation, Gephardt Fellows uplifting Asian American communities

In 2019, Caroline Fan, a passionate St. Louis visionary and organizer, founded the Missouri Asian American Youth (MAAY) Foundation.   Fan was driven by a powerful desire to uplift marginalized communities through education and opportunity. As president of the MAAY Foundation, she leads the creation of an organized voice for the AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, […]

Immersion trips for Fellows offer in-depth experiences in STL neighborhoods

As a part of their commitment to serve St. Louis effectively and responsibly, Gephardt Institute’s 2023 St. Louis Fellows listen and learn from local St. Louisans through Engage STL Days, where they visit local neighborhoods and hear from community members. The institute’s 33 fellows had the opportunity to interact with two cultural hubs in St. […]

Fellows impact STL by day, build strong friendships by night

What are Gephardt Institute’s Civic Scholars and Fellows doing in the evening when they’re not actively pursuing community and social impact? The answers are every bit as interesting and diverse as the students who offer them.   For Demarion Delaney, a St. Louis Fellow, time away from work means time working on the “two man whole.” […]

Alumni Spotlight: Burton transforming education and philanthropy

For Ryan Burton, working at the intersections of education, philanthropy, and community development helped land him a spot at Harvard.   Burton is a candidate in the Doctor of Education Leadership program, which utilizes a cohort model taught by faculty from three different Harvard schools and is designed for those pursuing vocations in systems-level leadership in […]

Alumni Spotlight: Underwood charts journey from WashU to the White House

From her undergraduate origins at WashU to her role with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy team in San Francisco, Karin Underwood’s civic journey is a powerful example of a life dedicated to civic engagement. Each experience has served as an impactful cornerstone that paved her way to the White House and […]

Fellows supporting St. Louis, building civic skills through local organizations

“It takes time to heal from the trauma of gun violence,” Dr. LJ Punch, the founder of the Bullet Related Injury Clinic, told St. Louis Public Radio at the end of 2022.   “Unfortunately, in St. Louis, bullet-related injury is endemic,” Punch said. “It brings up all the other traumas that you didn’t get the chance […]

Gephardt staff share institute’s best practices with colleagues around nation

This month, a group of Gephardt Institute staff and WashU Votes leadership traveled to Boston, Mass. for the annual Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting (CLDE).   The annual conference is hosted by NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and is designed to convene diverse stakeholders committed to advancing democracy through student preparedness for engaged […]

St. Louis Fellows’ first days on the job

The 2023 St. Louis Fellows—the largest group ever, with 33 students representing the WashU Classes of 2024, 2025 and 2026—began their summer internships with 29 organizations in the St. Louis region at the beginning of June. Their internships involve analyzing data about marginalized populations, meeting with local officials about legislation, working with patients with Alzheimer’s and […]