Economic inclusion benefits all
For the St. Louis region, and any other urban region in the United States, to be successful, there must be a willingness to negotiate differences and find ways to live together better. This approach often means daunting challenges and sometimes chaos, but it is those regions that have been more accepting of inclusion are at the forefront of what makes this country, despite its structural imbalances and social exclusion, the world’s leader in economics, technology, culture and power.
The Salute to Excellence in Business would not be possible and successful without a real partnership, like the one between the St. Louis American Charitable Foundation and our co-presenters the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, and Greater St. Louis, Inc., as well as our many sponsors.
Partnerships like the one between the Foundation and civic stalwarts supporting the Salute to Business are essential. Protecting inclusive economic growth from some withering assaults on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives will take effort from everyone who recognizes that our economic future will be brighter if there is economic fairness.” It is critical if we are to become a more vibrant and innovative region.
The political and economic environment in this country has seen dramatic shifts over the last 50 years. Moreover, the fact is that the St. Louis region will not reverse its lagging economic growth, if large sectors of its community are left on the outside looking in.
The inaugural Salute to Excellence in Business Awards Luncheon was held in 2000, the first year of the 21st century. Its mission was to raise awareness and celebrate successful African American entrepreneurs and corporate executives, and to inspire and encourage more African Americans to pursue business careers.
The 2024 Salute To Business is thankful to have the World Wide Technology Foundation and Steward Family Foundation join us this year as the 2024 Business Salute’s lead sponsor.
Our first Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000 was David Steward. Born in Chicago, he was raised in Clinton, Missouri, his mother’s hometown, with his eight siblings in a house that had no indoor plumbing or heating. He became the founder of World Wide Technology,
Black organizations and individuals. David Steward shared with the American that “Michael Neidorff was an incredible role model and mentor to many, including me. He is certainly missed but his legacy will continue to positively affect many future generations.”
The future success and competitiveness that Neidorff wanted for the St. Louis region business community depends on recruiting, developing and retaining minority talent and promoting minority economic entrepreneurship.
a global technology solutions provider. In 2000, World Wide Technology had already gained national attention with annual revenues of $413 million.
A year earlier, Black Enterprise named World Wide Technology (WWT)as ‘Company of the Year’ when WWT leaped to sixth in BE’s ranking of Black businesses. Today, Steward is chair of World Wide Technology, the largest privately held Blackowned firm in the United States with $20 billion in annual revenue in 2023.
needed.
Michael Kennedy Sr., retired chairman and CEO of KAI Design & Build and 2024 Lifetime Achiever in Business, founded his firm in St. Louis as Kennedy Associates, Inc. in 1980. A pivotal moment in his education would now be considered unconstitutional by this current U.S. Supreme Court.
n “Inclusive economic growth is essential for any major economic hub in this country to succeed.”
– Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis
The company, despite its dramatic growth in size and success, remains firmly dedicated to its robust DEI initiatives and programs. WWT held its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Summit “Driving Progress: The Future of DEIB at Work,” last July. Its presenters included KPMG, Google, UKG, Cisco and other global companies.
Greater St. Louis, Inc., held its Inclusive Economic Growth Summit in September 2023. During the Summit, an online resource for the community, STL 2030 Progress, was introduced. It provides data and mapping tools to show where there is progress towards inclusive economic growth and where work is
According to Kennedy, Washington University recruited him in 1969 and invited him to enter the School of Architecture as a graduate student. In 1978, he became the first African American architect registered in the state of Missouri.
Michael Neidorff, who passed away on April 7, 2022, is being honored posthumously as a Champion for Civic and Business Inclusion. Michael’s remarkable stewardship led St. Louis-based Centene Corporation from a $40 million single health plan to a multinational giant that grew to $152,999 billion in 2023. Michael made diversity and inclusion a major focus of his leadership that led to Fortune ranking Centene as the #2 company for diversity and inclusion. He is being cited for his philanthropy and personal generosity that benefitted many
However, Missouri is among 20 states where Republican lawmakers have filed at least 50 bills that would restrict DEI initiatives, according to an Associated Press analysis. They want to get rid of DEI offices, dismantle anti-bias training and abolish diversity statements. It would be shortsighted if our region’s leadership fails to embrace and nurture fledgling African American entrepreneurs because they fear political, legal or social media repercussion. We must reassure aspiring young people that St Louis offers growing opportunities for all.
Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, notes that Atlanta, Miami, Chicago and other cities are excelling economically because inclusion is at the forefront of their growth.
“Inclusive economic growth is essential for any major economic hub in this country to succeed,” he shared recently with the St. Louis American. He adds that, “Our diversity needs to be celebrated and supported. DEI is good for business and good for America.”
We hope that this annual awards and networking luncheon helps create a bridge to greater understanding and extols the value of more cooperation between African Americans and the business community in our region.
We will continue to advocate for greater inclusion of African American entrepreneurs and corporate team members and seek to find ways to move this region to embrace more aggressively inclusive economic growth that benefits all.
Donald
M. Suggs President St. Louis American Charitable Foundation
Mike McMillan President, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis
Donald M. Suggs President, St. Louis American Charitable Foundation
Jason Hall President and CEO Greater St. Louis, Inc.
Special Awardee
‘He proved DEI could lead to profitable business model’
Michael Neidorff honored posthumously
Champion for Civic and Business Inclusion
By Chris King
For The St. Louis American
Salute to Business
When Michael F. Neidorff, the longtime chief executive officer of Centene Corporation, passed away on Thursday, April 7, 2022, at age 79, his passing was reported as national news by Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. Matt Eyles, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the lobbying body for the health insurance industry, told Forbes that Neidorff was among the first health insurance executives to address patients in “under-represented and underserved communities.”
Forbes reported that Neidorff, who joined Centene as CEO in 1996, grew the company from a $40 million regional business into “a national healthcare giant with revenues that eclipsed $126 billion in 2021.” Centene now has nearly 76,000 employees serving all 50 states and three international countries. Neidorff grew Centene, Forbes reported, “as more Americans signed up for Medicaid, the health insurance for low-income patients it manages via contracts with states and individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act.” Centene remains the biggest provider of subsidized coverage under
The late
with
from a $40 million regional business into “a national healthcare giant with revenues that eclipsed $126 billion in 2021.”
the law that was President Obama’s crowning legislative achievement.
In the St. Louis region, where Centene is headquartered in Clayton, his loss as a leader in business and philanthropy con-
tinues to be felt nearly two years after his passing. The St. Louis American Charitable Foundation is recognizing Neidorff’s past leadership (and its current absence) with an unprecedented
posthumous award at the 2024 Salute to Excellence in Business.
“Michael Neidorff was a tremendous
See NEIDORFF, page 7
Michael Neidorff
his wife, Noemi. Michael, who joined Centene as CEO in 1996, grew the company
Photo courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis
Michael McMillan, (right), president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis said, “Michael Neidorff was a tremendous leader when it came to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). He led by example in terms of having an extremely diverse senior leadership team at Centene.. Michael was also just as generous with his time and resources personally and professionally to causes that embody DEI.”
Neidorff
Continued from 13
leader when it came to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). He led by example in terms of having an extremely diverse senior leadership team at Centene, which is the largest publicly traded company in the state of Missouri. Michael was also just as generous with his time and resources personally and professionally to causes that embody DEI,” said Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis,
which enjoyed a close relationship with Neidorff and the Centene Foundation, the corporation’s philanthropic entity.
McMillan credited Neidorff, the Centene Foundation and the foundation’s president Keith Williamson with critical support for many Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis initiatives: the final funding necessary to complete the Ferguson Community Empowerment Center; the funding to purchase the former Auto Zone that was burned down during the events in Ferguson to build the Urban League’s Senior Center and Apartments; title sponsorship of the National Urban League Convention in
St. Louis; funding for the renovation of the former HDC Headquarters to be transformed into an African American Business Hub and Public Safety Center; the initial funding to make a down payment on the purchase of the Urban League’s new regional headquarters and retail plaza behind it; and title sponsorship of the Urban League’s signature events.
Williamson worked with Neidorff before Centene had achieved a position to make that degree of philanthropic impact as the company’s general counsel, and he worked alongside Neidorff as he grew the corporation and its impact to scale.
“I remember talking with Michael shortly after I joined Centene in 2006. He was passionate in his belief that Centene and its executives should be actively involved in the community. Centene was small at that time but, even then, Michael dreamed big and acted boldly,” Williamson said.
“When he believed in a person or a project, he did not hesitate to generously commit his own funds and those of the company’s foundation. To an extraordinary extent, he was willing to courageously step up and act swiftly, whether that
9
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American See NEIDORFF, page
Neidorff
continued from page 7
be in building a job-generating call center in Ferguson after Michael Brown or making an early, lead gift to enable the success of an Urban League capital campaign.”
Neidorff’s expansion of Centene put him on the shortest of short lists of the region’s business and philanthropic leaders, where for years he collaborated and strategized with David L. Steward, founder and chairman of Worldwide Technology. Neidorff also tabbed Steward to help guide Centene and himself on the company’s board. Along the way, they became more than colleagues.
“I was privileged, honored, and blessed to serve with Michael on the Centene board of directors for 18 years and even more so to call him my partner, my treasured friend, and my very dear brother. I smile as I fondly recall some of Michael’s last words to me: ‘You are my brother from another mother.’ Proverbs 18:24 tells us, ‘A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.’ Michael was that friend to me,” Steward said.
“Everyone who knew him saw Michael as a pillar of strength and philanthropy in St. Louis and around the world. I will always remember his passion for serving ‘the least of these’ in our society. His servant leadership was a reflection of how God’s love conquers all! Thelma and I continue be inspired by all he accomplished in this world. We are grateful to continue in love and partnership with his wife, Noemi, and his son, Peter, as we perpetuate carrying out his inspirational vision of serving others.”
Neidorff did not let business commitments or community engagement crowd out his dedication to St. Louis’ many cultural treasures. He served on the board of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, as a trustee for Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and (going national, here) as treasurer of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees in Washington, D.C.
“Michael Neidorff’s commitment to and leadership in philanthropy in St. Louis cannot be overstated. He was an incredible champion for St. Louis and for so many causes within our community, including our vibrant arts community. Michael was steadfast in his belief that the arts are a necessary component for the health and well-being of a city,” said Andrew Jorgensen, general director of Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
“Opera Theatre was incredibly fortunate to benefit not only from his generosity, but also his wisdom, insight, and encouragement as a board member, and I am personally fortunate to have counted him a friend and mentor. He believed in the power of the arts to move, change, and empower individuals and communities, and he demonstrated that in both word and deed. When I think on the impact he made on OTSL and the greater St. Louis arts community, I am grateful and inspired. May we all aspire to care about our community as much as he did!”
As a result of Neidorff’s leadership, St. Louis-based Centene is ranked #24 in the Fortune 500, #57 in the Fortune 500 Global list, and #7 on the 2019 Fortune Change the World list. Fortune ranked Centene as the #2 company nationally for diversity and inclusion.
“His example proved that DEI could lead to an incredibly profitable business model,” McMillan said of Neidorff.
“Michael was an incredible role model and mentor to many, including me,” said Steward. “He is certainly missed but his legacy will continue to positively affect many future generations.
His longtime colleague Williamson said, “In both business and philanthropy, Michael set high standards for himself and those around him. One of the signs in his office that exemplified his philosophy was a quote from Nelson Mandela, ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’”
As a result of Michael Neidorff’s leadership, St. Louis-based Centene was ranked #24 in the Fortune 500, #57 in the Fortune 500 Global list, and #7 on the 2019 Fortune Change the World list during his tenure.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Special Awardee
Cheryl Jones keeps Girls Inc. on the go
Non-Profit Executive of the Year
By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American
Girls Inc. of St. Louis, under the leadership of President and CEO Cheryl Jones, was named the national organizations’ Outstanding Affiliate of the Year in the large budget category in 2020.
A year later, it was one of seven affiliates to share a $10 million grant by the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, which is being directed toward its Project Accelerate program.
Yet Jones says she and her organization, which serves 9,000 girls annually through after school and summer programs, will not rest on its laurels.
“We also go into schools, and right now we have 72 school partners.
The work is just beginning,” Jones said emphatically.
“It’s not enough. We’ve got to keep going keep doing.”
Jones has been named the 2024 St. Louis American Charitable Foundation Non-Profit Executive of the Year, something she describes as “pinch yourself moment.”
She will be honored during the 22nd Salute to Excellence in Business Awards and Networking Luncheon at 11 a.m. Thursday February 22 at the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis.
Under the theme of “Expanding Inclusive Growth,” the event is co-sponsored by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the Regional Business Council.
I grew up reading [the St. Louis American], and know it well,” she said.
“To be recognized by your own is such an honor.”
Of the girls involved with Girls Inc., many are from under-resourced, underserved areas. It is Jones’ mission to ensure that they “be strong, smart and bold with their life choices.”
If you’re in Girls Inc. you’re going to be involved in its STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) program, which partners with University
of Missouri-St. Louis, Maryville University, Washington University, Fontbonne University, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. There are also programs in creative arts, business, and other fields.
“Project Accelerate has been a remarkable collaboration that will change the career trajectory for young women across the country, and especially here in St. Louis,” Jones said.
Girls Inc. of St. Louis, under the leadership of Cheryl Jones, president and CEO, was named the national organizations’ Outstanding Affiliate of the Year in the large budget category in 2020. Jones has been named the 2024 St. Louis American Charitable Foundation Non-Profit Executive of the Year.
“This exciting, transformational award will enable future female workforce leaders to learn from top female industry executives whose mentorship will help pave career pathways for young women who have been previously excluded from leadership opportunities.
Jones’ honor was greeted by many St. Louis leaders with enthusiasm.
See JONES, page 13
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Salute to Business
Jones
continued from page 11
“Great honor for a great leader,” Flint Fowler, Boys and Girls Clubs of St. Louis CEO wrote on Instagram.
Well wishes also came from Michael McMillan, Urban League president and CEO, Kelvin Adams, president and CEO of the St. Community Foundation, Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop and former CEO, and Valerie Patton, Greater St. Louis Inc. chief DEI office president.
St. Louis’ local Girls, Inc. affiliate offers activities and programming for young women interested in STEM, creative arts, business, and other fields. Its STEM program partners with University of Missouri-St. Louis, Maryville University, Washington University, Fontbonne
University, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Jones said the organization’s hope is to provide exposure and a glimpse into college. During their fourth and fifth year, students are expected to land internships or externships.
“We meet girls where they are,” Jones said. “We ask them what they want to do, try to get behind them and support them.
Now in her 12th year at the Girls Inc. St. Louis helm, Jones is responsible for the strategic leadership of the organization and oversight. She manages staff, program administration and relationship with the National Girls Inc. organization, and is also responsible for building partnerships with schools, government and community organizations, foundation officers, corporate and individual donors.
Cheryl Jones is everywhere and does everything for Girls Inc., but she says, “there is always more to be done.”
Cheryl Jones, president and CEO of Girls Inc. St. Louis, addressed the sold-out crowd during its’ 13th Annual Strong, Smart and Bold Luncheon in 2019 at the Ritz-Carlton.
Photo by Lance Omar Thurman
Steven Harris: RubinBrown’s first Black managing partner Special Awardee
Corporate Executive of the Year
By Sylvester Brown Jr.
Steven Harris, CPA, CGMA, a managing partner with one of the nation’s top 50 accounting and business consulting firms, RubinBrown LLP, has been named the St. Louis American Charitable Foundation 2024 Corporate Executive of the Year.
Harris, just the fourth managing partner in the firm’s 70-year history and RubinBrown’s first Black managing partner, will be honored during 22nd Annual Salute to Business Networking and Awards Luncheon on Thursday February 22 at the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis.
In his role, he works closely with the firm’s chairman, John F. Herber, Jr. while focusing on oversight of operations and representing the firm across all markets locally and nationwide.
Harris began his career with the Clayton-based accounting and professional consulting firm in 1999, after graduating from UMSL with a degree in accounting. He was initially hired as a staff accountant after interning with the firm through INROADS, a program that aims to place underserved youth in corporate and community leadership roles.
Harris’ professional ascension over the past 20 years has been steady and impressive. In 2010, the firm named him a partner in Entrepreneurial and Assurance Services. He became chairman
Steven Harris, CPA, CGMA, a managing partner with one of the nation’s top 50 accounting and business consulting firms, RubinBrown LLP, has been named the St. Louis American Charitable Foundation 2024 Corporate Executive of the Year.
of the board of the National Association of Black Accountants in 2016 before his promotion to managing partner in 2022.
After graduating from Normandy High School, Harris had several higher education choices. He had the opportunity to attend the University of Missouri–Columbia or the University of Michigan, but he decided to stay close to home and
attend the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL).
In an interview with UMSL Daily in 2022, Harris credited his ascent to the top of his profession to life lessons he learned while working with his father, E.C. Haris, who owned a drapery installment business in north St. Louis County. referring to his father as his “first men-
tor and best friend” Harris recalled his father’s commitment to service.
“It really started with learning from him on how to treat people like people, build a great network, try to do a quality job and good things happen,” Harris told UMSL Daily. “I spent a lot of summers
See HARRIS, page 17
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Salute to Business
Over his extensive career, Steven Harris has been honored with many local and national awards, including The Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Diversity Award by the Missouri Society of CPAs.
Harris
continued from page 15
working with him. He’s gone now, so I wouldn’t trade any of that for the world.”
Initially, Harris said he intended to study engineering but accounting classes he took under Dave Ganz, then associate dean and director of undergraduate studies in UMSL’s College of Business Administration, he changed courses. Harris had a talent for the mathematics involved in engineering but was captivat-
ed by Ganz’s teaching methods.
“The way Dave would explain it, he would take real-life scenarios and just bring them to life,” Harris recounted to UMSL Daily. “You’re working on math, but you’re really working through a real-life scenario, which is really, really special.”
While pursuing his college degree, Harris worked full-time in catering and banquet set-up at the Marriott St. Louis Hilton Airport. While juggling work and school, Harris managed to excel and make the best out of his time at UMSL.
“I got everything I could out of those
years of my life. I did everything and had no regrets because that whole experience was great,” Harris told the university publication.
Over his extensive career, Harris has been honored with many local and national awards, including The Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Diversity Award by the Missouri Society of CPAs. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Missouri - St. Louis and an Executive MBA from Washington University. He is also chair of the Regional Business Council’s Young Professionals Network, is on the
Chancellor’s Council at UMSL and is involved with the United Way of Greater St. Louis.
In the 2022 UMSL Daily interview, Harris described his recipe for career success:
“The most important thing I had to learn is you must have fun along the way. You have to put energy into everything that you do and own it,” Harris said. “Have fun and leave everything you touch better than the way you found it.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Special Awardee
‘Naturally grown as naturally diverse’
Dave Steward II of Polarity is 2024 Entrepreneur of the Year
Entrepreneur
of the Year
By Chris King
For The St. Louis American
David Steward II, founder and chief executive officer of Polarity and an Academy Award-winning producer, is the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2024 Entrepreneur of the Year.
Steward founded Polarity in 2018. It encompasses a portfolio of content companies that produce graphic novels and comics, animated television, streaming and cinematic features, and gaming. In 2019, he launched Lion Forge Animation and produced Hair Love, which won the 2020 Academy Award for Best Animated Short. That company was rebranded to include a wider range of content as Lion Forge Entertainment in 2023. Steward founded his first entertainment company, The Lion Forge, LLC, to publish comic books in 2011.
Steward has maintained his initial mission – to publish comics and graphic novels with content for everyone, regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, or cultural background – and expanded it to cover more forms of content. Executing this mission has led him to build unusually diverse rosters of talent. Polarity and its subsidiaries employ more than 60 staff, 70% of them minorities and women. For his inclusive leadership, Steward was recognized in Variety’s 2022 Inclusion Impact Report, highlight-
ing the entertainment industry’s most impactful advocates for inclusivity. In another mainstream industry accolade, the Hollywood Reporter listed Steward among the 75 Most Powerful People in Kids Entertainment in 2023.
Steward’s namesake father – David Steward, founder and chair of World Wide Technology – received the St. Louis American Foundation’s inaugural Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2000. The American asked Steward Sr. about his son following in his footsteps.
“My son honors his family legacy of
faith-filled entrepreneurship. I know his grandfather, Harold Steward, the original Steward entrepreneur, would be overcome with emotion at the work Dave II has accomplished. My wife, Thelma, and I are extremely proud of the groundbreaking work he has done in the animation and entertainment industries,” David Steward said.
“We know there is a bright future ahead for our son and his company as he continues to follow the faithful call for his life. He is using his entrepreneurial spirit and highlighting the importance of
David Steward II, founder and chief executive officer of Polarity and an Academy Award-winning producer, is the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2024 Entrepreneur of the Year.
diversity while touching many lives for the next generation and beyond.”
The American spoke to David Steward II about lessons he learned from his father, how he has grown a diverse portfolio of diverse entertainment companies, and why St. Louis is the place where he thinks his two young children can learn to follow their North Star.
The St. Louis American: Obviously, this honor is about you and your comSee STEWARD, page 20
Salute to Business
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Steward
Continued from page 19
panies, but there are two major figures I need to get out of the way first, and one is your father. I asked him about your winning this award, and he talked about your being, like him, a faith-filled entrepreneur. How does faith guide what you do with your companies?
David Steward II: I’ve learned a lot of lessons from my father by watching him start his businesses, how he grew them, how he worked with others, how we treated people, how he conducted business. The guiding tenants of how we have always operated are all biblically based. Sometimes it’s simple things in terms of treating people well at various levels in your organization, whether it’s the person helping clean up the building or the executive vice president. Everyone in our organizations is treated with respect and in a way we would like to be treated as well, and these things have been instilled in me by my father. We have to run our business and make a profit, but we’re not going to cut corners or treat someone badly just to make a profit.
The American: I see comparisons and contrasts between your businesses and your dad’s main business. There’s a shared sense of ambition, scope, and scale. You acquire businesses, you add businesses, you grow, and that’s what he’s always done. As a contrast, he was always selling things that everybody knew the world needed – technology and supply chain solutions – but you’re selling people things with a lot less obvious market value. What pushback and feedback did you get when you said of all the things you might do, this is what you want to do?
Steward: I’ve always had a passion for the visual arts. My dad told me early on, “If you do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” He’s always instilled in us to follow our passions and our dreams. And what we’re doing, it’s a commodity product, and certainly there are other comic book and animation companies, but we are very different. There are no other companies focused on diverse content and working with diverse creators. We really blaze trails in working with diverse creators that have been very marginalized, Black artists and writers and other persons of
Steward II founded Polarity in 2018. It encompasses a portfolio of content companies that produce graphic novels and comics, animated television, streaming and cinematic features, and gaming.
color. With the types of stories that we’re putting together, coming from those diverse creatives’ point of view, we’re doing something that a lot of companies have really leaned on us for, whether it’s HBO or Nickelodeon. We’re helping them find those diverse creatives’ work and these stories.
The American: That brings us to the other major looming figure who is not you or your companies, and that’s the 2018 film Black Panther. I know that was a major studio production and not like what you do in that sense, but when that
years of marginalization of Black creators, executives, etc., and trying to diversify content. Then, for us, there was producing and being a part of Hair Love and the success of that. So, you had this environmental shift, but also our own success trajectory that we created with Hair Love helped to propel us into the spotlight.
The American: Looking at your track record, “diversity” for you is not a code word for “Black.” Your staff and content are genuinely diverse. What’s your diversity strategy?
Steward: It’s not one that’s exactly written on paper. Our strategy is our mission, which is diverse stories authentically told. To tell diverse stories is very important for us – and to include people who look like the people we’re portraying on screen. So, if I’m going to do a Native American story about a Native American group, then I’m going to have people representing that Native American group on that creative team in meaningful positions. Because of that mission, we naturally end up having a diverse staff. Our team is naturally grown as naturally diverse because of the types of things that we’re doing in the marketplace.
The American: Is there any way you monitor your content diversity?
happened, I thought, “Dave Steward saw this potential before anybody else.” The way that Black Panther happened, did it open doors for you?
Steward: That was one of three things that happened all around the same time. Black Panther was important in that it showed executives in Hollywood that Black content from Black creators is important and it’s very lucrative, as well. Another thing, sadly, was George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. Suddenly, you had all these companies focus on trying to clean up their act for
Steward: It starts with looking at the marketplace in general. Over the last few years, if you look at kid’s content, there have been a number of green-lit and produced shows that have Black girls. But there’s not a lot of shows that have Black Boy leads. So, there needs to be shows featuring more Black boys. We need to find shows featuring Hispanic boy leads. We’re seeing holes, then we produce and look for content that can fill those holes. Content buyers tend to move like a herd, almost. Where they see one opportunity, they all tend to shift towards that particular direction, which leaves holes in other areas. So, we make sure that there’s representation across the board.
The American: You started Lion Forge in St. Louis. Now you must have your tentacles on both coasts. Are you still a St. Louis resident?
Steward: I’m here in St. Louis. I was born and raised here. I want my kids to grow up here, and they’re firmly involved in the school system here. I just take monthly trips to L.A. to do what I need to do.
David
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Lifetime Achiever in Business Special Awardee
Michael Kennedy Sr., the architect of KAI Design & Build
By American staff
The journey of Michael Kennedy Sr., retired chairman and CEO of KAI Design & Build, to becoming the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2024 Lifetime Achiever in Business began with what Kennedy remembers as a distasteful situation in the early days of minority inclusion.
“In the late 1970s, minority participation was being forced on publicly funded developments. In the design industry, majority-owned architectural firms were required to team with a minority-owned firm for 10% of the work. Most of the time, the minority-owned firm did not have the experience to do the 10%,” Kennedy told The American
“So, the majority-owned firms would often give the minority-owned firm 10% of their fee, but they would explain to their clients that their fee would need to be 10% more than usual, because they were going to have to do the work for the minority firm. That approach was very distasteful for both the architect and his client.”
Out of that distaste emerged what would become a significant new local, regional and national player in the designbuild markets.
“Their distaste for that practice presented an opportunity for me to provide a minority-owned firm that could actually do the works,” Kennedy told The American. “I accomplished creating that firm and becoming recognized for our excellent services and became the first choice of both the majority-owned firms and their clients.”
Kennedy founded his firm in St.
Louis as Kennedy Associates, Inc. in 1980. Though his first success as an entrepreneur, it was not his first attempt.
“I always dreamed of having my own business, but never understood how that could happen,” Kennedy said. “I did, in fact, work for several firms before starting my first attempt in 1975, which failed after two years, but I learned a lot before founding KAI.”
Kennedy had wanted to be an architect since boyhood. He became fascinated watching homes being built in his
Richmond Heights neighborhood that were designed by African-American architect Charles Flemming. Though in 1963 a high school guidance counselor advised him that Washington University’s school of architecture would not enroll a Black student, the university reached out to Kennedy in 1969 as the Civil Rights Movement gained steam and invited him to enter the School of Architecture as a graduate student. He soon became the first African-American architect registered in the State of Missouri.
Michael Kennedy Sr., the retired chair and CEO of KAI Design & Build, is the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2024 Lifetime Achiever in Business.
Though his local roots are strong, Kennedy’s business vision was wider than local from the beginning. He soon opened offices in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. (Dallas remains one of Kennedy’s favorite travel destinations.) KAI now employs a diverse team of 135 architects, engineers, interior designers, builders and support staff at its headquarters in St. Louis; offices in Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City, and Atlanta; and additional project offices
See KENNEDY, page 24
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
SALUTE TO BUSINESS
continued from page 23
throughout the U.S. KAI’s projects in other states include the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation and Aquatic Center in Atlanta; DFW International Airport, Dallas Area Rapid Transit and South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas; Reby Cary Youth Library in Fort Worth; and VIA Metropolitan Transit Brooks City Base and San Antonio Promise Zone in San Antonio, Texas.
However, its largest footprint remains here at home. Local buildings to KAI’s credit include the Millennium Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, The Deaconess Center for Child WellBeing, Boys & Girls Club of Greater St. Louis Teen Center of Excellence, St. Louis Community College Center for Nursing & Health Sciences, Lucas Crossing Elementary in Normandy, Gateway Middle School for Science and Technology, Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, Harris-Stowe’s William L. Clay Early Childhood Center, the St. Louis Justice Center, and affordable housing units in Old North St. Louis.
KAI’s trademark is high, glass-paned roofs that invite in ample natural light.
One of Kennedy’s favorite designs is the “spinal cord” of the Career Academy. It’s a three-story atrium space that looks like a prism of window panes from the outside. The peak of the prism acts as a spine that connects the gymnasium, cafeteria and offices of administration, filling them all with fresh light and life, Kennedy said.
Many of KAI’s projects have served an important public service. KAI got its first major national recognition, a National Endowment for the Arts award, after designing the 21 Metrolink stations in St. Louis.
“We’ve done so much in this community, and there is still a lot in the community to improve, so we hope to be working on it for a long time,” Kennedy told The American – back in 2010. That was when Kennedy received his first business award from the St. Louis American Foundation, the 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
By then, Kennedy had been grooming his successor – his oldest son, Michael B. Kennedy – for a decade. He recognizes that he owes some of his lifetime achievement to his son and successor.
Michael Kennedy Sr., retired chair and CEO of KAI Design & Build, in his West Port Plaza office in West County.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Kennedy
continued from page 24
“The key to KAI’s future is the perfect timing of Michael’s joining the firm in spring of 2000,” Kennedy said. “I had started a small firm and carefully led and grew it by my bootstraps and much prayer to just over 100 employees. Michael was trained to manage a large corporation,
and he has added the programs and procedures over the years that now guide KAI Enterprises.”
In 2004, Kennedy Sr. rebranded Kennedy Associates, Inc. into KAI Design & Build. Four years later, his son became KAI’s president. Kennedy Sr. retired in 2017. In 2019, his son restructured KAI Design & Build into parent company KAI Enterprises with four new subsidiaries – KAI Design, KAI Engineering, KAI Build and KAI
360 Construction Services. That same year, Michael B. Kennedy followed in his father’s footsteps again when he received the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
“I am particularly pleased to have been selected by the Salute to Excellence in Business planners because The American has over the years been a supporter of KAI,” Kennedy said of his latest and culminating accolade. “One of my strongest driving forces always was to
be recognized as an example of excellence as a representative of all African Americans.”
What advice would he offer to young minority professionals looking to enter the design-build field?
“It is extremely important that they build a strong foundation for any career and then build their experience completing one step at a time,” Kennedy said. “By the time they get to step number 10, steps 10 to 100 will fall like dominoes.”
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
In 2004, Michael Kennedy Sr. rebranded Kennedy Associates, Inc. into KAI Design & Build.
