Stories

October 20, 2025 Early Childhood Educators: Putting Our Whole Heart Into It Tina Mosley and Adrienne Pennington Executive Directors [email protected] [email protected]  Photostory by Kiara Fite and Lindy Drew / Humans of St. Louis.   TINA: “When people ask, ‘Are those all your children?’ I say, ‘Yes, they are.’”  ADRIENNE: “I met this young lady on…

September 26, 2025 Childcare Keeps Missouri Working Before we get into our next series, we’d like to share a bit of background about how it came to life. WEPOWER and HOSTL teamed up to amplify the stories of educators and families who are part of the childcare community. Families with children aged zero to five…

Friday, August 18th at Missouri’s Botanical Garden, WEPOWER hosted their second ever Garden Party. Charli shared some reflections and also presented investment checks to two entrepreneurs leading businesses that WEPOWER Capital has recently invested in. December 13, 2023 We Pull Up for Our Babies By Paula Breonne Vickers Standing, Mary-Ann Vickers Mans , Paula holds…

November 29, 2022 What it Takes to Thrive: The Importance of Investing in Everyone By: Amina Abdul-Malik WEPOWER’s Director of Investments and a native North St. Louisan, Amina Abdul-Malik, reads on the steps of her former middle school, a place where she saw “the possibilities of educational equity come to life” in her childhood. Photo…

August 25, 2022 For Us, By Us, with Love By: Coral Bello-Martinez Meet Coral Bello-Martinez, an alum of WEPOWER’s Power-Building Academy who just joined the WEPOWER team as the new Economic Justice Organizer. Photo by Nyara Williams.   What drew me to work in education? I wanted to become the teacher that I had needed…

August 4, 2022 We Have More Power Than We Recognize By: Jacqueline Person Jacqueline Person, a recent Power Building Academy and Chisholm’s Chair alum, as well as a recently retired teacher from St. Louis Public Schools, stands in her former classroom. “I decided to pursue being a teacher…so I could have a lot more interaction…

July 14, 2022 You Have a Future in This: How vision can help build a village   By: Tim Eleby (aka Tim the Caterer) Tim “Tim the Caterer” Eleby, co-owner of Pure Catering, stands at the entrance of Café St. Louis in the Missouri History Museum, which they have been running since June 2021. Pure Catering…

June 13, 2022 Keeping Kids at the Center By Adesha Armstrong Adesha Armstrong, founder and operator of Early Adventures in-home family child care center in Florissant, MO. Photo by Nyara Williams.   This kind of work we do? It isn’t about us—it’s about the kids. If we’re not holding kids at the center, then how…

November 23, 2021 Letting Curiosity Lead By Vanessa Pimblott Vanessa is WEPOWER’s Lead of Community Building and Partnerships, and an alum of WEPOWER’s inaugural Tomorrow Builder’s Fellowship. Photo by Izaiah Johnson. I have a longstanding nickname that my grandma gave me: Sinvergüenza. It’s Spanish for “bold and without shame.” She has always told me, “¡Eres…

September 20, 2021 A Catalyst for Change By Marie Franklin Marie Franklin is a mother, grandmother, caretaker, leader, community organizer, Chisholm’s Chair alum, and life-long East St. Louis resident. Photo by Izaiah Johnson.   “I am and always will be a catalyst for change.” -Shirley Chisholm   Our street was horrible. It was barely passable…