PROGRAM MANAGER

Ms. Jackson has an extensive history in building programs and guiding access to quality educational institutions in St. Louis.  Ms. Jackson has evolved into an independently published MOM author who saw an opportunity to create literary content that exposed children ages 4-12 to STEAM education, purposeful play, and cultural representation. Jermecia is the author and creative developer of Dr. Jam; The Kid Doctor of Education. Dr. Jam seeks to integrate the achievement gap between African American boys and young men in STEAM-related education and careers all while celebrating the love of academia as a whole. By providing representation in children’s books, Jermecia hopes this is a small, yet necessary step to develop more culturally responsive schools as we can continue to address the symptoms of educational inequity.

POST DOC FELLOW

Dr. Ifeanyi Ukpabi is the postdoctoral fellow for the St. Louis Anchor Action Network (STLAAN) at University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Ifeanyi received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Georgia State University in 2022. His research focuses on Black communities, race and racism, work and employment, urbanism and urban inequality. His primary research aim is to illuminate the socioeconomic realities of Black communities in the post-Civil Rights era. Therefore, his research focuses on two pillars of socioeconomic life – employment and housing – to understand how racial inequality continues to structure the pathways into middle-class life for Black communities.

SPECIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR

Ms. Wagan brings over twenty-five years of university experience with data analysis and project management, and her MA in Library and Informational Sciences, Senior Manager of Economic Development Projects with the Economic and Community Development unit works with UMSL data managers to collect, integrate, analyze and interpret data, projects and information. She develops and maintains tools,  and leads projects to facilitate UMSL’s Strategic Plan commitment to advance racial equity and remove barriers to economic opportunity and facilitate transparency with special focus on inclusive local hiring and purchasing. Prima Wagan also leverages her data and project management expertise to support university involvement in redevelopment projects.

DIRECTOR

Stefani Weeden-Smith serves as the inaugural director for the St. Louis Anchor Action Network (STLAAN). The Network is committed to driving sustained investment in the people and places in our community impacted by a century of systematic racial and spatial inequities. Prior to her role with the Network, Stefani led Washington University’s approach to partnership at the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement as the assistant director of community engagement. She also served as program director at NCCJ St. Louis where she was instrumental in supporting local school districts and non-profits in building more inclusive and equitable organizations. Stefani earned her Master of Professional Studies at Pratt Institute in Creative Arts Therapy and Creative Development in Brooklyn, New York. A St. Louis native, she loves this city and looks for any opportunity she can to introduce people to new businesses and restaurants in her Tower Grove East neighborhood.

FOUNDER/ ADVISOR

The Des Lee Professor of Community Collaboration and Public Policy Administration at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, (UMSL), Todd Swanstrom specializes in urban politics and public policy. He has an MA from Washington University (1971) and a Ph.D. from Princeton (1981). Prior to joining UMSL, Todd taught at Saint Louis University and the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany (SUNY).  He also worked as a neighborhood planner in Cleveland and as the Director of Strategic Planning for the City of Albany, NY. 

Currently Todd’s research focuses on housing deterioration as a form of environmental injustice and the prospects for the anchor strategy to turn around disinvested neighborhoods. Todd used the resources of his endowed professorship to support the Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis, which is working to build great neighborhoods throughout the St. Louis region. He currently supports the St. Louis Anchor Action Network, a coalition of 16 anchor institutions in the St. Louis region working to revitalize 22 disinvested ZIP Codes in North St. Louis City and County.