Driving Equitable Change Through Collaboration
Equitable change in our workforce and economic development processes demands intentional and incremental effort. From mental health in the construction industry, to vaccine awareness, regional unity, and barriers to inclusive workforce, the Forum’s approach over a dozen years has produced positive results. We bring the stakeholders together. We build collaborations. We test new approaches. Then, we measure, assess, and bake in improvements. Here are some examples.
STL Building Trades Wellness Coalition
The STL Building Trades Wellness Coalition is a group of tradespeople united in a common goal: to break the stigma surrounding mental health, substance misuse, and suicide crisis. The coalition was formed by members of the St. Louis Building Trades and other stakeholders who are committed to wellness.
STLBT Wellness CoalitionMental & Physical Health
When the COVID pandemic began in 2020, construction was declared an “essential industry,” leaving workers exposed to physical danger and mental stress. The Forum produced dozens of videos and aggregated hundreds of resources online.
COVID-19 ResourcesRegional Unity Drill Downs
The launch of “Better Together” in 2018 focused the STL region on areawide collaboration. The Forum brought in national experts to speak, convened stakeholders, and commissioned 11 white papers by David Rusk, the nation’s top scholar on urban regionalism.
Regionalism White Papers