Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Mark Mestemacher
Mark Mestemacher and Jackie Joyner-Kersee have long worked to make a difference in the community. With Lansdowne UP, they’re now aiming to reinvigorate East St. Louis by rehabbing or building 20 affordably priced homes to encourage growth in the area. The two are using their collective influence to help drive community investment from the ground up.
Aaron Harris
Aaron Harris strives to empower St. Louis teens to become positive, productive members of the community. As executive director of the Ferguson Youth Initiative, he has helped establish an after-school open house and a community service program. The latter provides youth with the chance to complete mentor-guided service work in place of incarceration or paying fines.
Muriel Smith
A lot has changed for the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank since its founding a decade ago. The organization’s reach has expanded exponentially: It now dispenses more than 3.2 million diapers to 75 community partners across the region. Led by executive director Muriel Smith, the nonprofit helps area families in need by providing period supplies and parent education opportunities.
Paula Gaertner
Paula Gaertner is leading Thomas Dunn Learning Center through the next phase of its long history. Founded in 1930 as an orphanage for boys, the center now offers a wide range of educational programming to help St. Louisans pursue high school equivalency degrees. It also provides a safe space for youth after school and supports mental health, wellness, and more.
Sam Moore
Sam Moore is helping tell a more complete story of St. Louis’ past and present. As the Missouri Historical Society’s managing director of public history, Moore is working to champion Gateway to Pride, an exhibit that shares the stories of LGBTQ+ life in the St. Louis region through oral histories, photography, artifacts, and other items. Running through July 2025, it’s the first exhibit of its kind in the organization’s 158-year history.
Legacy Jackson
Little Legacies Community Service Organization
Legacy Jackson started Little Legacies in 2016 to help organize monthly service projects to benefit children in need. Today, the teenager continues to impact her community in ways big and small. Some of the organization’s latest projects include opening a kid-friendly playspace at Gateway180, Missouri’s largest family emergency shelter, as well as collecting clothing to support Gateway180’s mission.
Steve and Bob O’Loughlin
LHM Lodging Hospitality and Management
LHM continues to revive one of the region’s most iconic attractions. After already transforming Union Station with the St. Louis Aquarium, St. Louis Wheel, and other attractions, LHM announced plans to add amusement park rides there by Memorial Day 2025. And at the same time, Westport Plaza has seen a resurgence, with the opening of 360 West, Soda Fountain Express, a new gathering space, and The Rawlings Experience.
Dr. Bryan Moore
Led by Dr. Bryan Moore, Jubilee Community Church is helping fight fentanyl addiction in the community with a planned $24 million wellness center in North St. Louis. The project includes a complete renovation of a historic school on Grove Street, which will offer housing, training, support spaces, and other services that provide a holistic approach to healing. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025.
Michael McMillan
Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis
Michael McMillan has helped grow Urban League’s annual budget—from $15 million in 2013 to $50 million today—while broadening programs and services. In late April 2024, the Urban League announced its expansion into North County with a new $25 million building. The 60,000-square-foot facility will become the organization’s central hub for education, programming, and other on-site services.
Maxine Clark
The Build-A-Bear Workshop founder Maxine Clark breathed new life into the former St. Luke’s Hospital by opening the Delmar DivINe in 2022, after six years of redeveloping the $89 million mixed-use project. The initial phase resulted in 150 apartments, retail options, and office space—but Clark was just getting started. The organization recently announced its second phase, with another 80 apartments slated to open by 2026.
