McDonnell family commits $1 Million to Gateway Global for GIWAC Campus in North St. Louis

Members of The McDonnell Family and The McDonnell Family Foundation have made a monumental philanthropic contribution of $1 million towards a new training facility for Gateway Global American Youth and Business Alliance Academies (Gateway Global) in North St. Louis City.

The McDonnell Family Foundation’s visionary gift will be instrumental in ensuring that youth and young adults gain the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in the world of Geospatial Intelligence and Information Technology. 

Gateway Global, a tech-based workforce development, training, and apprenticeship management organization “helps youth and young adults get the skills and credentials they need for career pathways related to Defense, Intelligence, and U.S. Critical Infrastructure,” says, Zekita Armstrong Asuquo, CEO of Gateway Global.  “It is the only organization in the United States accredited by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF, the world standard for GEOINT) to train and credential in Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) at the high school level which includes recent high school graduates.”

This generous donation will serve as a catalyst for “Gateway to the Globe,” a capital campaign that is raising $8 million to build out the organization’s Geospatial & IT Workforce and Apprenticeship Campus (GIWAC). Spanning across two Project Connect neighborhoods – Hyde Park and Old North – the GIWAC will offer a training center, computer labs, equipment and research labs, and geospatial simulation theater.  

“Gateway Global’s work demonstrates a strong commitment and long-term vision to developing a tech workforce that is fully inclusive”, said St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura Jones. “These efforts coincide with a broader vision to develop North St. Louis neighborhoods and bring investment to a historically distressed and neglected part of the city while also providing young people with the resources and skills they need to fully participate and succeed in our city’s rapidly growing tech sectors.”