The African American/Charmaine Chapman Leadership Society of United Way of Greater St. Louis kicked off its 2017 fundraising campaign on Thursday, July 20.
Its cochairs are Ann Cuiellette Marr, vice president of global human resources at World Wide Technology, and Keith H. Williamson, general counsel at Centene Corporation. They also cochaired the 2016 campaign, raising $3.5 million – the first time it raised more than $3 million since the society was formed.
The society, which is comprised of more than 800 local African Americans who donate $1,000 or more annually to the United Way, was formed (by St. Louis American publisher Donald M. Suggs). It has raised more than $32 million for United Way services in the 16-county metropolitan region. It’s the oldest and largest African-American philanthropic giving group associated with any United Way in the nation.
The United Way’s other local leadership societies and their 2017 chairs are the de Tocqueville Society: (Dr. Timothy Eberlein, professor, Washington University of Medicine, and chairman of the department of surgery and surgeon-in-chief, Barnes-Jewish Hospital); the Men’s Leadership Society (Arindam Kar, partner, Bryan Cave, and Michael W. Lawrence, market integration executive, Merrill Lynch); the Multicultural Society (SiSi Beltrán, director of integrated marketing, Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Santiago Beltrán, logistics manager, Build-A-Bear Workshop) and the Women’s Leadership Society (Ellen Theroff, vice president of corporate and shared services governance and standards and corporate secretary, Spire Inc.).
“United Way’s Leadership Societies are communities of generous and committed individuals from around the St. Louis region and we are grateful to have such exemplary leaders serving as our societies’ campaign chairs this year,” said Orvin Kimbrough, president and CEO of United Way of Greater St. Louis. “Our leadership givers account for nearly one third of our annual campaign funds.”
“When you talk to member agencies and see how they have changed the lives of people, it makes you want to dig deeper and give more,” Ann Cuiellette Marr, cochair of the 2017 African American/Charmaine Chapman Leadership Society, told The American. “It inspires you and makes you want to support them.”
For more information about joining the Charmaine Chapman Society, contact Ashley Edwards at ashley.edwards@stl.unitedway.org or 314-539-4104.
