Gena Gunn McClendon, esteemed director of community engagement at the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University, passed away on October 21, 2023. She leaves behind an enduring legacy as a fierce advocate for equity, a champion for the disempowered and a passionate defender of voting rights. “Throughout her career, Gena has been a […]
In Singapore, an innovative project is training frontline staff and volunteers to give financial guidance to low-income families.
Two recent events illuminated restrictions on ballot access and strategies to increase voting. Both featured national experts on voting rights.
Events to feature Barbara Arnwine, national voting rights experts, and elections officials As the United States prepares for the 2022 elections, voting rights are under threat. What can be done to protect access to the ballot? Civil rights leader Barbara Arnwine of the Transformative Justice Coalition, Elizabeth Hira of the Brennan Center for Justice and […]
As she stood at the podium, Gena Gunn McClendon considered the moment. “We’re here to learn. We’re here to teach,” she told those gathered on Saturday, May 8. McClendon, director of the Voter Access and Engagement Initiative with the Center for Social Development in the Brown School at Washington University, leads research to identify voting […]
Dozens of Brown School students, staff and faculty volunteered at polls across the St. Louis region November 3, helping voters to cast their ballots in what would turn out to be the largest vote total in U.S. history and the highest turnout rate since 1900.
On September 22, Gena McClendon, Cori Bush, Tishaura Jones, and others gathered for the John Lewis “Good Trouble” March to the Ballot Box.
With the presidential election looming this year, voting is as important as ever. For Black History Month, Gena Gunn McClendon, director of CSD’s Voter Access and Engagement initiative, participated in numerous events to discuss voter suppression and the crucial importance of the black vote.
For her work, Dr. Gena Gunn McClendon has been honored with the Ambassador Andrew J. Young Award for Outstanding Ethics, Service, and Commitment to Family and Community.
Research from the Center for Social Development shows that where voters live can influence their ability to vote. “In volunteering at the polls, I noticed that equipment malfunctions and other issues seemed relatively common at some sites, explained Gena Gunn McClendon, director of CSD’s Voter Access and Engagement initiative and a co-author of “Will I […]
On September 12 at the Brown School, representatives from regional universities, Missouri and Illinois election board members and community organizations convened for the second Campus and Community Voter Engagement Summit. “The summit presented opportunities for key stakeholders to have a dialogue about the significance of strategies that promote student participation in voting and the importance […]
Awareness about voter suppression is gaining momentum, in part through screenings of “Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook.” Building on a positive response to the first screening on Washington University’s campus, the Center for Social Development’s Voter Access and Engagement (VAE) project collaborated with community partners to host a second screening on August 3, 2019 at […]
More than 100 guests turned out Wednesday afternoon for a screening of the documentary “Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook.” “Voter suppression is wrong, and it’s real,” Mac Heller, the documentary’s executive producer, said before the show. The event at the Brown School was a joint effort between the Voter Access and Engagement (VAE) initiative and […]
The Center for Social Development’s Voter Access and Engagement initiative trained and dispatched 38 researchers to 20 polling places in St. Louis City and County on Election Day, November 6.
The Center for Social Development at Washington University’s Brown School is once again engaged in partnership for development of social work in mainland China. The focus is on financial capability.
In St. Louis and St. Louis County, voter registration and voting are lower in ZIP codes with more black residents, according to a new study from researchers at the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.
About 50 people participated in Election Protection training on October 23 at the Brown School. Denise Lieberman, senior attorney and co-program director for the Voter Protection Program at the Advancement Project, led the nonpartisan training to prepare volunteers for the November 6 election. She also updated them on a new change in Missouri election law. […]
Representatives from St. Louis universities and community organizations gathered for the first Campus and Community Voter Engagement Summit, on August 9 at the Brown School.
Please join us for the event Black Wealth, Black Health: The Power of the Black Vote, from 2-4 p.m. June 30 at Schlafly Library, 225 N. Euclid Ave.
The first textbook to focus on financially vulnerable households is now available from Oxford University Press. “Financial Capability and Asset Building in Vulnerable Households: Theory and Practice” teaches about financial capability and asset building through the stories of four families whose lives unfold over 23 chapters.
Our faculty and staff are committed to advancing racial equity, and one of the most important vehicles is the national Grand Challenges for Social Work. We’ve created four webinars to highlight this initiative.
To celebrate Financial Capability Month, the Center for Social Development and the Center for Household Financial Stability at the St. Louis Federal Reserve convened a forum, “Coin a Better Future: Reaching Out to Financially Vulnerable Families.”
Voter Access and Engagement is a nonpartisan partnership that connects public, nonprofit and private-sector organizations in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
The webinar, on April 25, was hosted by the Center for Social Development and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in collaboration with the Council on Social Work Education.
Financial Capability and Asset Building for All is one of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work and a growing practice in the social work profession. The Center for Social Development is committed to working with its partners to increase the financial capability of individuals, families, and communities across the globe!
Recent proposals to change the scope of federal consumer protections bring to the fore a broader discussion about financial inclusion. Now three leading journals are heightening awareness of a national effort to reintroduce to social work a curriculum focused on building financial capability for all Americans.
The Journal of Social Work Education has posted its January issue with a special section on Financial Capability and Asset Building. The papers originated as part of the Center for Social Development’s 2015 FCAB conference Financial Capability and Asset Building: Advancing Education, Research, and Practice in Social Work.
A program specialist from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a senior consultant from ICF helped to lead a recent professional development workshop at the Brown School, “Behind on Bills: Tools to Help Your Clients Secure Greater Financial Well-Being.”
“Financial capability and asset building” is the theme of the 60th anniversary issue of Social Work. Articles by several researchers at the Center for Social Development were published in the October 2016 issue of the flagship journal of the National Association of Social Workers.
The Center for Social Development hosted a seminar this month for social workers and others from South Korea, part of a larger training program focused on developing financial capability for Korean youth.
Nearly 50 scholars, educators, researchers and macro social work practitioners met in January in Washington, D.C., for the convening on Financial Capability & Asset Building: Moving Forward.
People in the field of social work are crucial to broadening how to think about the poor and their financial decision making, Camille Busette, PhD, said in the keynote speech at the 2015 Convening on Financial Capability & Asset Building: Advancing Education, Research, and Practice in Social Work.
The Financial Capability & Asset Building initiative was highlighted Tuesday during a celebration showcasing four Washington University in St. Louis initiatives funded by a $5.3 million gift from Wells Fargo Advisors.
As the racial wealth gap in the United States continues to broaden, the Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition has emerged with solutions for improving and sustaining communities that have historically high poverty rates and few assets.
One of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs believes a college education has a “multiplier” effect. Students learn material through coursework, and then go out into the world and apply that knowledge, in turn helping and teaching others.
As the financial roller coaster continues, those working to close the wealth gap and achieve economic security in the South are working more vigorously than ever.
Financial capability is central to the success of individuals, families and communities, yet social workers and other human service professionals are often ill-equipped when addressing such issues with financially vulnerable clients.
CSD congratulates its research partner, Seoul Welfare Foundation, for winning the 2010 United Nations Public Service Award in the category of “Improving the delivery of public services” for its leadership of the Seoul Hope-Plus Savings Accounts project.
CSD conducted a webinar on assets and education on February 17th hosted by the Asset Funders Network.