Niagara Peace & Dialog Awards Ceremony – 2015

Bob Fox

Founder and CEO NewSpace, Inc.

Bob founded NewSpace Closet Interiors in 1984, the first of its kind in the St. Louis region. Today NewSpace, Inc. is also a full-service contract furniture dealer and provides fixtures to the retail trade.

A native of St. Louis, Bob served in The United States Air Force from 1962 to 1966. He graduated with a B.S. in Business and Economics from Drury University in 1968 and received his MBA from Saint Louis University in 1976. Bob has served on the Board of Trustees of Saint Louis University since 2006.

In 1984 Bob married Maxine Clark, a May Company executive who went on to become President of Payless ShoeSource and then in 1997 founded Build-A-Bear Workshops. In 2005 Bob and Maxine created the Clark-Fox Family Foundation to support the St. Louis community in areas vital to regional growth and prosperity.

Bob and Maxine are founding sponsors of Teach For America in the St. Louis region and of KIPP the first Knowledge is Power Program charter schools in St. Louis. In 2006 they funded the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. They also endowed the Chair of the Dean of Goldfarb School of Nursing and established a professorship in the name of Raymond and Alberta Slavin at Saint Louis University. Bob and Maxine received the 2011 Jane and Whitney Harris Community Service Award given annually to couples in the community who, through their public service, have greatly enhanced the St. Louis region. They were also honored with the 2013 NCCJ Brotherhood/Sisterhood Award, the 2013 One Hundred Black Men Educational Award and the 2014 Saint Louis University Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Leadership Award. In 2015 the Clark-Fox Family Foundation founded and launched Blueprint4SummerSTL a mobile app that brings access to summer programs to low-income families.

Bob serves on the Michael and Barbara Newmark Institute for Human Relations Advisory Board and is a founding member of the Gephardt National Council for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University where he personally mentors both Civic Scholars and Goldman Fellows. He also serves as the Chair of the Education Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee of the St. Louis Zoo Foundation Board.

Bob is the Founder and Chair of the Board of Casa de Salud, a not-for-profit health and wellness center that welcomes new immigrants out of isolation and into the embrace of the community. It opened its doors in January of 2010 and today serves more than 12,000 patient visits annually.

Bob is the Founding Chair of the Board of inspireSTL a not-for-profit educational initiative started in 2011. inspireSTL identifies bright, socio-economically challenged, middle school children in urban underperforming schools, helps them with preparation and access to the finest college prep high schools in the region, tutors and mentors them through high school and college with the goal of bringing them back to their communities as transformational leaders. He also serves on the external advisory board of the SLPS Collegiate High School for Medicine and Bio-Science.

Bob serves on the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Taskforce on Immigration for the Midwest. In 2012 he was instrumental in establishing and still serves on the steering committee of the St. Louis Regional Taskforce on Immigration and Innovation which launched The St. Louis Mosaic Project in 2013. Its mission is to increase the foreign-born population in the St. Louis region so that by 2020 it has the fastest growing immigrant population of any major metropolitan area in the country. He also serves as an advisor to the board of Welcoming America a national organization based in Atlanta that helps hundreds of communities all over America develop and maintain robust immigrant welcoming programs.

Bob received the inaugural St. Louis Harvard Club Community Service Award in 2010. In 2011 he received the Hispanic Leaders Group Premio Esperanza – Hope Award given to the individual in the region who has brought the most positive recognition and honor to the Hispanic community. He is the recipient of the 2011 St. Louis Award given to “the resident of metropolitan St. Louis who has contributed the most outstanding services for its development or…shall have performed such services as to bring great honor to the community.” In 2012 he received the St. Louis World Trade Center’s Global Ambassador Award and was inducted into the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University Smurfit-Stone Entrepreneurial Alumni Hall of Fame. In 2014 he received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. State Celebration Commission of Missouri Distinguished Humanitarian Award. Bob is the recipient of the 2015 Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethics of Service Award at Washington University.

Becky James-Hatter

President and CEO

Becky has served for the past 21 years as the President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri (BBBSEMO). Under her leadership, the agency has grown from serving 300 children annually in 1994 to serving approximately 2,500 children today, an 800% increase. Presently, BBBSEMO is the largest youth mentoring organization in the State of Missouri and the 6th largest Big Brothers Big Sisters of America affiliate (there are 350 affiliates).

Her hard work and dedication have led to the agency being the #1 affiliate in the nation for quality service for five straight years and the only agency to ever be named, in one year, Agency of the Year, Board of the Year, Staff of the Year and # 1 in Quality Service.

Most recently, under Becky’s leadership, BBBSEMO extended their promise to be there for their Little Brothers and Little Sisters through age 25. The agency also adopted a new vision – moving the agency from the goal of Little Brothers and Little Sisters graduating from high school to earning a livig wage job by 26. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri is the first agency in the nation to make this change.
Under Becky’s leadership the agency has historically been committed to innovation and improved outcomes. In 2006, the agency launched ABCToday!®, an early warning, recognition and response system, which is working to improve education within the St. Louis, Normandy, Cape Girardeau Public Schools and a number of charter and private schools by focusing on Attendance, Behavior and Classroom success in reading and math.

The initiative has been named a national model by the U.S. Department of Eudcation, State of Missouri, Civic Enterprises, a public policy firm in Washington D.C., Johns Hopkins University, the American Association of State Funded Colleges and Universities (AASCU). In addition, it has been lauded as a leading practice in education reform and student achievement. In 2013, Becky was honored by President Obama at a special event and reception at the White House and named a Champion for Change in educating African American children. In 2014, Becky was invited to return to Washington, D.C., as President Obama recognized Big Brothers Big Sisters for its efforts in college preparation, entry and completion rates.

Becky also launched Big Brothers Big Sisters Amachi Missouri, a statewide partnership program with other Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates and the Missouri Department of Corrections, to serve children of incarcerated parents, one of our nation’s most vulnerable group of children.

Becky has a long history, 26 years, with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. Prior to moving to St. Louis, she was the Vice President of Program for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlanta, the largest agency in the country during that time. She is also the founder of the Central Louisiana chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

In addition to her job responsibilities, Becky, along with her husband have been a Big Couple to Little Brother Erick for the past 5 ½ years. Becky also continues to keep in close contact with her Little Sister Ke’Sheara with whom she was matched for 17 years. In addition, she has served as a member of several local Boards of Directors including, Forest Park Hospital, RESPOND and Vision for Children at Risk, and has served as the Chair of the United Way Women’s Leadership Giving Initiative for non-profits.

History
In 2006 a handful of St. Louis women had a big idea: A women’s group that would pool members’ equal contributions and, using a one woman-one vote process, make focused, high-impact grants to nonprofits dedicated to improving life in our community.
The women told their friends. Their friends told their friends . . . The spirit spread by word-of-mouth, and we made our first grants in 2007. We’ve grown every year since.

Mission

The Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund (SOS) strengthens the St. Louis community through informed, focused grantmaking by educating and inspiring women to engage in significant, collective giving.

Purpose

• Create a powerful organization of women devoted to improving the community.
• Be a force for significant social change through collective grantmaking.
• Provide financial support to community organizations dedicated to improving life in the Greater St. Louis area.
• Educate and inspire current and potential women donors.

Values

We are committed to equality, diversity, collaboration, community, inclusiveness and accountability.
We value our members as colleagues and friends. We don’t just work together. We also relax together at occasional social events.
We enjoy the sense of discovery that comes from learning about our community, its needs and organizations that are working to meet those needs.

2015 Grantees

$180,000 Granted
• CHADS – $25,000
CHADS advances awareness and prevention of youth depression and suicide. The SOS grant will support expanding school outreach services to between two and four charter schools in the city of St. Louis, impact 1,670 children and increase to 27,883 the total reached.

• Community Performance – $20,000
Community Performance Ensemble is a music and arts program serving 120 East St. Louis children two afternoons a week and on Saturday year round. The SOS grant will help CPE bring a nationally known music program to East St. Louis Public Schools.

• InspireSTL – $14,000
InspireSTL places talented low-income middle school students in college-prep high schools and provides them with academic, social and emotional support. The SOS grant will allow InspireSTL to add more students to its current total of 140.

• L.E.A.D. Promising Youth – $10,000
Leading, Educating, and Developing Promising Youth provides disadvantaged students ages 7 to 19 with an after-school tutoring program. The SOS grant will enable L.E.A.D. Promising Youth to upgrade the technology and software of its mathematics curriculum.

• Let’s Start – $20,000
Let’s Start works with formerly incarcerated women and their children to support recovery and reintegration, mitigate the effects of parental imprisonment, educate the public and inform policy. The SOS grant will support therapeutic services and a partial staff salary.

• Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project – $20,000
The MICA Project is a legal services, advocacy, organizing and educational organization working with low-income immigrants. The SOS grant will help MICA help eligible clients apply for such benefits as citizenship, work authorization and U.S. visas for relatives.

• Soulfisher Ministries – $10,000
SoulFisher Ministries provides after-school tutoring to youth with incarcerated parents as well as job training and placement, and affordable housing to convicted felons and their families. The SOS grant will allow the organization to expand its tutoring program.

• St. Louis HELP – $20,000
St. Louis HELP repairs and recycles donated home medical equipment and lend it without charge to any individual in need. The SOS grant will allow St. Louis HELP to expand its services by adding staff hours and increasing the number of equipment drives.

• St. Louis Learning Disabilities – $11,000
The St. Louis Learning Disabilities Association provides free and reduced-cost services to children with learning disabilities and support services to their parents and teachers. The SOS grant will allow the Association to add three preschools to its preschool program.

• Women’s Place – $20,000
Woman’s Place is the only anti-violence drop-in center for women seeking safety in St. Louis County and in St Charles, offering its services without appointment and free of charge. The SOS grant will enable Woman’s Place to increase these services.

• Voices for Children – $20,000
Voices for Children provides legal and social advocacy for the abused and neglected children in the foster care systems in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County. The SOS grant will allow Voices for Children recruit, train and retain volunteer advocates for the children.
These grants bring to $1,672,500 the amount that SOS members have invested in our community since 2007, our first year of making grants.

FRANKIE MUSE FREEMAN, ESQ.

Frankie Muse Freeman served as a practicing attorney in state and federal courts for 60 years until she retired in 2009. She was staff attorney for the St. Louis Land Clearance and Housing Authorities from 1956 until 1970, first as Associate General Counsel and later as General Counsel of the St. Louis Housing Authority. In March 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated her as the first woman to serve as Commissioner of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Following confirmation by the U.S. Senate, she served for sixteen years, and was subsequently reappointed by Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter until July 1980. During the Carter Administration, she also served as Inspector General of the Community Services Administration.

Atty. Freeman is a Trustee Emerita of the Board of Trustees of Howard University and past chair of the Board of Directors of the National Council on the Aging, Inc. She is a board member of the Urban League of Metropolitan Saint Louis. Freeman is also a member of the executive committee of St Louis City NAACP and the Trustee Board of Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church. She is a past national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Atty. Freeman has received many community service awards for outstanding achievement. She is the recipient of honorary degrees from University of Missouri-St Louis, Harris-Stowe State University, Washington University, Hampton University, Saint Louis University, Aquinas Institute of Theology, Eden Theological Seminary and Howard University. Among her many accolades, she received the following: St. Louis 2011 Citizen of the Year; 96th NAACP Spingarn Medalist; 2014 American Bar Association Spirit of Excellence Award; and on September 15, 2014, she was honored and celebrated on the 50th Anniversary of the confirmation by the U.S. Senate as the first woman to serve as Commissioner of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

A native of Danville, Virginia, Atty. Freeman attended Hampton University and received a J.D. degree from Howard University School of Law. She is a member of the National Bar Association; the Bar Association of Metropolitan St Louis; and the Mound City Bar Association. She was inducted into the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame in 1990. On February 26, 2007, Atty. Freeman was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame.

Her Memoir, A Song of Faith and Hope: The Life of Frankie Muse Freeman, was published in 2003. Frankie M. Freeman was married to Shelby T. Freeman, Jr. for 52 years, prior to his passing on July 12, 1991. She has one daughter Shelbe Patricia Bullock, three grandsons and four great grandsons.