This week we had the opportunity to celebrate our newest class of Youth Leadership St. Louis graduates as they concluded their 2021-22 program year.
This year’s cohort explored a variety of topics and regional issues, including criminal justice, education, diversity and inclusion, health and wellness, and poverty and homelessness, all while building valuable leadership skills in critical thinking, group facilitation, problem-solving, teamwork and public speaking.
Here was what some of the students had to say about their experience:
- “Youth Leadership Saint Louis has been an eye opening experience that I will never forget. I have been exposed to so many issues
that I was not aware of, and now because of the program, I have the resources necessary to make a change in my own community.” - “YLSL has so far been the most important tool in shaping and growing my leadership skills, and I am more confident in listening, leading, and discussing as a result of it.”
- “YLSL provided me with an accepting community and a safe space outside of my family and my school. It has exposed me to so many
new viewpoints and showed me the benefits of having conversations with people from different backgrounds than me.” - “YLSL is embracing our diverse backgrounds and having the hard conversations that society likes to brush under the rug.”
This program is made possible through the generous funding of The Boeing Company, MOHELA, Reinsurance Group of America, Inc., Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, The Saigh Foundation, Dierbergs, Cardinals Care and the Mary Ranken Jordan & Ettie A. Jordan Charitable Foundation, with in-kind support from the PepsiCo Foundation and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Congratulations to our 2021-22 Youth Leadership St. Louis graduates from the following schools/organizations!
Bishop DuBourg High School
Chaminade College Preparatory School
Cor Jesu Academy
Crossroads College Preparatory School
Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri
Grand Center Arts Academy
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Normandy High School
Saint Louis Priory School
Saint Louis University High School
Soldan International Studies High School
St. Louis Internship Program
St. Mary’s High School
Ursuline Academy
Vitendo 4 Africa
A special thank you to this year’s presenters and facilitators for sharing their time and expertise!
Dr. Bart Andrews, Behavioral Health Response
Valyn Beasley, Nestlé Purina North America
De-Andrea Blaylock-Solar, Sankofa Sex Therapy LLC
Kelli Braggs, Bridge of Hope Ministries
Dr. Candice Carter-Oliver, Confluence Academies
Jordan Contreras, Nestlé Purina North America
Andrea Cox, The Collective STL
Colleen Daum, Covenant House Missouri
Michael England, St. Mary’s High School
Julie Fickas, Ed.D., St. Louis Community College-Forest Park
Shawntelle Fisher, The SoulFisher Ministries
Joseph Gregory, St. Patrick Center
Dr. Karen Hall, Saint Louis University
Lorri Holtgrieve, Humanitri
Lt. Col. Rochelle D. Jones, St. Louis Police Department
Sarah Johnson, Missouri State Public Defender System
Ana Hernández Kent, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Dan Koehler, Nestlé Purina North America
Nina Leigh Krueger, Nestlé Purina North America
Jaqui Melton Rogers, BJC HealthCare
Ashley Moore, Humanitri
Alyssa Mueller, Nestlé Purina North America
Cameron Poole, Clayton High School
Emily Powell, Nestlé Purina North America
Dietrich Smith, Chaminade College Preparatory School
Judge Stephen R. Welby, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri