Invest STL

✨ It’s Black Storytelling Week! This year’s theme is “What we inherit, what we pass down."

🫂 Family and community history doesn’t only live in archives — it lives in the things we carry, the places we remember, and the traditions we pass down.

🖤 We’re grateful to the organizing founder, Martina Abrahams Ilunga, for introducing this week-long celebration that honors, preserves, and shares the stories that connect us across generations. In honor of , our team is sharing photos of people, places, and keepsakes that hold special meaning and carry a piece of history.

📸 Now, we want to see yours! Share a photo in the comments of something that connects you to your history — a family keepsake, a cherished place, a treasured photograph, or anything that connects you to where you come from.

🗨️ Know someone who has a story or keepsake to share? Tag them in the comments and invite them to join the conversation!

🏃🏾‍♂️🔥 In just a few days, we’ll be out in these streets for the Northside Trap Run! We’re excited to join Young Friends of the Ville once again for this year’s Hip Hop 5K walk/run + festival. 🔥🏃🏾‍♂️

📆 When: Saturday, September 12, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
📍 Where: Intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and N. Sarah Street, St Louis.

📖 While you’re there, check out our pop-up Story Lounge to enjoy creative expression and connect with Resident Storytellers of our inaugural Neighborhood Storytelling Practice!

🖤 From its history and culture to its creativity, energy, and community power, the Northside has always had stories worth knowing and sharing.

🔗 Learn more + register at www.traprunstl.com.

🗣️ Every neighborhood holds stories worth sharing and hearing.

✨ Through our inaugural St. Louis Neighborhood Storytelling Practice, Resident Storytellers with deep ties to the Greater Ville, Kingsway East, and The Ville are exploring, documenting, reflecting on, and sharing the stories that shape how their communities are seen, understood, and remembered.

🔗 Read our first reflection on the practice here: www.investstl.org/st-louis-neighborhood-storytelling-practice

👀👟 Something BIG is returning to the Northside. 👀👟

Once again, we’re a proud sponsor of the Northside Trap Run 2026. We look forward to the return of St. Louis’ FIRST and ONLY Hip Hop 5K walk/run + festival.

📆 When: Saturday, September 12, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
📍 Where: Intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and N. Sarah Street, St Louis.

ℹ️ This year’s theme, “Run For It," means more than crossing a finish line. It’s always about uplifting North St. Louis neighborhoods and bridging the city's north-south divide through collaboration. It’s about showing up for the places that raised us, the people who keep showing up, and the stories that continue to shape the Northside.

📖 While you’re there, stop by our pop-up Story Lounge, where you can connect, reflect, and explore different paths of creative expression.

🖤 Join us on September 12 and experience the Northside through the lens of the people who call it home.

🔗 Learn more + register at www.traprunstl.com.

Young Friends of the Ville

Are you subscribed to our news + updates? 👀

We recently published the Summer 2026 edition of our People Power Place newsletter, and we want you to see it firsthand!

Join our mailing list and stay connected to the people, power, and places shaping our communities. Get the latest scoop here: www.investstl.org/newsletters/.

🌳🎨 We can't wait to see you!

Arts In Da Park is more than an event, t’s a day to connect, create, play, laugh, and celebrate the people who make our community special.

From music and food to art, games, storytelling, our Teen Corner, and so much more…there’s something for the whole family! 🙌🏾

📅 Saturday, September 5th
🎟️ FREE & OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY**

Bring your family. Bring your friends. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and come spend the afternoon with us!

We’ll see you in the park! 🌳

📣 Help Shape SHED's Future
SHED is beginning the exciting process of developing our next strategic plan, and we're looking for an experienced consultant or firm to help guide the effort.

If you know a nonprofit consultant or organization with expertise in strategic planning, we'd appreciate your recommendation. Or please feel free to share this request with your network.

Proposal Timeline
• Submission window: August 3 – September 18, 2026
• Deadline: 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 18, 2026
• Contact: Joel Pugh at [email protected]

Thank you for helping us build an even stronger University City!

📢 We're a graduate student to join our team as a Graduate Fellow during the Fall 2026/Spring 2027 semesters. The Graduate Fellow will partner with staff on projects aligned with their academic expertise and our organizational strategic priorities.

We’re looking for someone who has:

➡️ An interest in community development, social justice, or systems change work

➡️ Strong communication and interpersonal skills

➡️ Curiosity, humility, and willingness to learn

➡️ Ability to manage tasks and follow through on responsibilities

➡️ Comfort working with diverse communities and perspectives

➡️ Ability to work both independently and collaboratively

➡️ Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace applications.

🔗 Learn more about this position and qualifications + apply here by August 16: bit.ly/graduate-follow.

♻️ Feel free to share this opportunity or tag anyone you think should apply!

📢 We are launching the Neighborhood Action Incubator (N.A.I.), a neighborhood-based, collective leadership, and power-building intensive program for community members in Mark Twain, Walnut Park, Baden, North Pointe, Greater Ville, Kingsway East, Fairground, and U-City 3rd Ward.

👥 N.A.I. will bring groups of 4-5 neighbors together this fall to build relationships, develop a collective understanding of the community development system, and gain tools to drive change in their neighborhoods. In Spring 2027, the groups will work with their local neighborhood organization to take action on a neighborhood priority.

🏘️ Interested residents and groups of neighbors from the neighborhoods above should sign up to attend a webinar session on Monday, August 3 at 5:30-7 pm. Sign up for the webinar here: 8734fec0-8b42-4e5a-b5d4-5faeee48eca1@76471f2f-f2ff-4ed8-a068-8d00c4f1be11" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/8734fec0-8b42-4e5a-b5d4-5faeee48eca1@76471f2f-f2ff-4ed8-a068-8d00c4f1be11