Sandra M. Moore

Sandra M. Moore’s mantra, “In this life you must give more than you take,” characterizes her approach to service in her community.  

Mentorship has been a major priority in Sandra’s career since the very beginning. As an undergraduate student at Washington University, she started a mentoring program that allowed members of the Association of Black Students to volunteer at the St. Louis City Juvenile Detention Center. This program continued on after she graduated. 

After completing several summer internships there, she worked at Legal Aid for 3.5 years, where she dedicated herself to the issue of neighborhood redlining and represented people who needed lawyers but could not afford one. Sandra also worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for 11 years, where she was appointed as an administrative judge.  

Sandra has demonstrated her leadership and mentorship through the establishment of the St. Louis Blues Museum and as a long-term member of the Mound City Bar Association, the first Black bar association west of the Mississippi River. She has participated in Heat Up, Cool Down St. Louis, which supports low-income households in securing proper heating and cooling during the summer and winter months. 

For 16 years, Sandra served as the president of Urban Strategies, Inc., a national organization dedicated to community development through partnerships and programming.  In this role, she hired and mentored over 100 students from the Brown School at Washington University, where she served as an adjunct professor. She is currently the Managing Director of Advantage Capital Partners.  

“She is always thoughtful and challenging—never a push over. She is nothing if not honest and candid, always with the betterment of St. Louis top of mind,” her nominator said. “Sandra Moore epitomizes what the Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award stands for. …she will do the award proud now and in the future.”