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.
Philanthropy Lab is a sociology course at WashU designed to spark and expand students’ interest and participation in philanthropy. Through classwork, workshops with philanthropy professionals, and involvement in the process of visiting, interviewing, and vetting local nonprofit organizations, students develop a theoretical and practical understanding of modern philanthropy and its role in addressing social issues.
After a semester of asking students to consider what it means for individuals to donate their time, money, and skills, the course culminates with students granting funds to non-profit organizations in the St. Louis community, an endeavor supported in conjunction with the Gephardt Institute and The Philanthropy Lab, a national organization.
“Everyone in the class had different outlooks for how we should spend the money, and what we wanted to focus on,” said Mason Shaver ‘26, a 2024 St. Louis Fellow who was a student in the class and identified his own interest as early childhood education. “We were all interested in different causes, and it was fascinating to see everyone find ways to connect their personal interests to philanthropy and giving.”
A Red Circle, one of the organizations that the class chose to fund, is a nonprofit committed to providing sustained, focused attention to the racial equity issues that impact North St. Louis County.
The idea for A Red Circle took root as Erica Williams, the organization’s founder and executive director, researched St. Louis’ real estate history and discovered the tie between racial tensions and past racist laws and public policies. She decided that a substantial investment into North St. Louis County was necessary to provide equitable relief to the region.
The nonprofit currently envisions a North County that benefits from equitable investment, a goal that they strive to achieve through life-enriching programming that focuses on community wellness, arts, and education. Ultimately, they assert this investment will lead to a healthy environment and food ecosystem, quality education, and opportunities for everyone to enjoy the arts.
When considering A Red Circle as an organization to fund, Shaver explained that the class completed a site visit to one of the organization’s community gardens.
“The people there really sold it,” said Shaver. “Seeing how much they care—how dedicated they are to making a difference—that’s why I became interested in wanting to advocate for them.”
“Their founder, Erica Williams, also wowed us. Seeing her enthusiasm and passion for making a change made me interested in the organization.”
Working with Williams, another employee at Red Circle is Trina Ragain, the organization’s Director of Development and Strategy.
In addition to the original $10,000 they were allocated by WashU Philanthropy Lab students, A Red Circle was then granted an additional $50,000 by the national The Philanthropy Lab organization.
This additional allocation was decided by a group of student leaders at The Philanthropy Lab’s Ambassadors Conference in Fort Worth, Texas in June.
“A Red Circle is absolutely thrilled to be the recipient of $50,000 in additional funding from The Philanthropy Lab,” said Ragain. “This funding will go toward general operating expenses for the organization, which are typically not covered by traditional grants and require the majority of our fundraising efforts.”
“We really enjoyed engaging with Washington University’s Philanthropy Lab students,” she continued. “It’s heartening to see higher education institutions offering students the opportunity to learn about the various aspects of philanthropy, including grant making.”
Students at the national conference are responsible for the additional allocation represented by universities across the country who had participated in a Philanthropy Lab course. Among them were Shaver, Kate Kirchdorfer ‘26, and Sofie Vinick ‘27, who spent the conference advocating for A Red Circle to receive additional funding.
“Trying to pitch the organization to people who weren’t familiar with St. Louis was difficult,” he said. “I worked closely with Trina Ragain throughout the conference to make it happen. At the conference we had a lot of conversations in conference rooms—there was a lot of fighting over little details—and she was always willing to Zoom in and help. It’s always important to hear from someone who’s actually working with the organization you’re interested in supporting.”
Shaver will continuing to partner with A Red Circle to pursue other grant funding opportunities for the organization.
“It was inspiring to see students from different universities become advocates for a St. Louis organization over the course of the conference. It’s great that St. Louis is getting recognition, that people are examining the history of the region and considering how we can be involved with making change.”
WashU’s Philanthropy Lab course is a partnership of the Gephardt Institute and Sociology Department. Grant funds dispersed by students are provided by The Philanthropy Lab national organization and other generous donors. If you would like to support Philanthropy Lab at WashU, contact Colleen Watermon, Director of Advancement, at cwatermon@wustl.edu.