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St. Louis has experienced some challenging times. Yet resilience, resistance, love and care for the people of St. Louis remains. Organizations supporting residents of the City of St. Louis continue to be creative and determined in their efforts to advance the quality of life through education, health, housing, employment, arts and culture, and more. For the reasons above, it is truly an honor to serve as the board president of the St. Louis Philanthropic Organization to work collectively with committed and community minded board members and improve the lives of the people of our city.

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I have a solid and firm belief in the mission and resulting accomplishments of the St. Louis Philanthropic Organization, and for good reason. As the leader of a youth leadership organization supporting City of St. Louis youth and families, I directly have experienced the support of the Philanthropic organization as a previous grantee. I later was invited and excitedly joined the board. I have served as treasurer, assistant treasurer and chair of the allocations committee to ensure a successful grant process.

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In my new role as president, with the full commitment of veteran expert board members, we will continue to progress in alignment with our mission, and support dreams that build communities.

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We recognize the importance of the times, the necessary shifts in thinking and action related to racial equity in our city, and the magnitude of any positive contributions the St. Louis Philanthropic Organization can have by providing organizations with capacity building workshops, and responsive and impact grants to move our city forward. We are here to do the work!

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Sincerely,

Dionne Ferguson

Board President of St. Louis Philanthropic Organization, Inc.