A Minute With

St. Louis Public School’s youngest board member

ALISHA SONNIER

builds activism and advocacy at UMSL

By Wendy Todd

rom her time as a teenager, Alisha Sonnier has set out to ignite change. A visible activist and a mental health advocate in the St. Louis region, she ran for St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education in 2021. Among her supporters was then-St. Louis City Treasurer and now-Mayor Tishaura Jones. Sonnier narrowly lost. But in one of her first acts as mayor, Jones appointed Sonnier to the board to replace current Treasurer Adam Layne. “Education was transformative for me,” Sonnier says. “I wanted to be of service to my community and build political power. Additionally, knowing that nationally 70% of students who receive mental health services get them through the school district inspired me to run.

“I was curious about what it would be like to be on the other side of the door, representing students like myself and trying to get the quality of education and the type of holistic education I know we deserve.”

Sonnier’s activism was heightened as she was starting college as a response to the shooting of Michael Brown in 2014. She was in Ferguson, Missouri, every night protesting but wanted to do more. She eventually founded an activist group, Tribe X. Through her efforts in community organizing and activism, she assembled resources to give out items such as scarves and gloves as part of an endeavor called “Heat up the Hood.” From that experience, Sonnier found her voice helping others in acts of social justice. “That was the beginning of me starting to think strategically about how I wanted to cause change,” Sonnier says. Sonnier began college at Saint Louis University and was active on campus, helping arrange a sit-in as a response to police brutality and other social injustices. Those efforts won resources to develop initiatives aimed at making the university more accessible to a wider swath of students.

Her success brought her attention, which interfered with her studies. Facing burnout, she changed course in her academic pursuits and transferred to the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Sonnier connected with Alan Byrd, UMSL’s former vice provost for enrollment management. He convinced her UMSL would be a place where she could feel like a regular student, focus on her goals and have the support she needed. “He was super supportive,” Sonnier says. “I felt I could tell the difference regarding privilege at UMSL. I could see this group of professionals were used to working with everyday adults, as opposed to students fresh out of high school or more economically privileged kids and mainly white.” She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2019 and has been working as a mental health advocate since 2020. Sonnier also started a podcast, “BlackTea,” discussing politics and culture, which she funded with a $10,000 grant from Divided City. Sonnier has also gone back to school to take courses in nursing and is considering a career as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Though her future isn’t set in stone, she will continue advocating for equality and equity. “I have an idea of where I want to go,” she says, “but I know I want to continue to build political power that is truly for the people.”

By Steve Walentik

Alumnus LUKE COFFEY

helps shape conversations about global affairs

As Russia amassed troops along its border with Ukraine in late January, Luke Coffey headed to briefings at the U.S. Capitol. Members of the Senate wanted to hear from him about what could be coming amid growing concerns that Vladimir Putin would soon launch an invasion into the former Soviet republic. “If you’ve actually been on the ground there, you have a much deeper understanding of what’s going on,” says Coffey, who serves as the director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation. Coffey, a 2002 graduate of the University of Missouri–St. Louis, has been on the ground in more than 70 countries and developed contacts and a particular expertise in transatlantic and Eurasian security, as well as the Middle East, over the past two decades. Coffey began building his knowledge of global affairs long before joining Heritage, a conservative think tank in Washington, in 2012. A veteran, he was stationed in Italy during his time on active duty and did a tour as a U.S. Army captain doing detainee operations in Afghanistan in 2005, earning a bronze star.

When he left the military, Coffey enrolled at the London School of Economics to pursue a master’s degree in politics and government of the European Union. He was just beginning school when he landed an internship in the office of a member of Parliament, which eventually helped him secure a full-time position in the office of another member, Liam Fox. When the Conservative Party took control of Parliament in 2010, Fox ascended to secretary of state for defense, and Coffey became a senior special adviser, the first non-U.K. citizen appointed by the prime minister to such a role.

Coffey couldn’t have imagined making that type of history growing up in the Franklin County town of Catawissa, Missouri, though he was always fascinated by the wider world. “I was a young boy when the Soviet Union collapsed, and I remember making my mom go to Walmart to get a new globe with all the new countries,” he says. One reason Coffey joined the military was the sense of adventure that came from the opportunity to travel abroad. He earned an associate degree at Wentworth Military Academy, then a bachelor’s in political science at UMSL before going on active duty. Affordability and convenience heavily influenced his college decision, but at UMSL, he found professors, including J. Martin Rochester, who fertilized Coffey’s interest in foreign affairs and encouraged debate. He also engaged with international students on campus and studied abroad for a semester at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. All those experiences helped propel the first-generation college student to a career in foreign affairs, one of the few areas of politics and policy where there’s still some agreement across the political spectrum. “Thankfully, in the foreign policy space,” Coffey says, “the mainstream of the political right and the mainstream of the political left find a lot of areas to cooperate and work together.”

Photo by Erin Granzow

RAJIV BANAVALI

and the science of sustainability

By Burk Krohe

Rajiv Banavali holds up an ordinary looking white paper cup, the kind you get at a coffee shop. He explains that, in most cases, “paper cup” is a misnomer. Typically, they’re coated with plastics, making them neither recyclable nor biodegradable. The cup the University of Missouri–St. Louis alumnus holds, the one he helped develop as senior vice president of science and innovation at WestRock Corporation, is different. It’s completely recyclable and biodegradable – a leap forward for sustainability. “Once I got into the industry, I saw how we can solve problems to help people,” Banavali says. “Sustainability became the big thing. I got hooked on it, and I saw that the chemical industry has given us many great products, but it also has given us many problems.” During his storied career as a chemist, manager, and business leader, Banavali has worked to solve those problems by leading research and development efforts for global corporations, such as Honeywell, Huntsman, Rohm and Haas, and now WestRock. His love for problem-solving started with a family full of doctors and scientists in Mumbai, India. They encouraged his interest in chemistry. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Mumbai, he came to UMSL to pursue a PhD, graduating in 1985. Lawrence Barton, professor emeritus of chemistry, took Banavali under his wing, helping him grow as a chemist and as a person. “That was a great time in my life,” Banavali says. “I was still very young, but with the guidance of my professors I really grew up. UMSL taught me not only about chemistry, but also about how to build and navigate a productive life.” After a postdoctoral fellowship, Banavali embarked on a three-decade career in the chemicals industry, leading cutting-edge research across the globe and developing an array of sustainable products. As vice president and CTO of Honeywell’s Advanced Materials division, Banavali shepherded the creation of Solstice, a new line of refrigerants vastly superior to others on the market.

“When things leak from your refrigerators or your air conditioners, they basically cause global warming,” he says. “The scientists in my group developed the next generation, which are ozone safe and do not warm the planet. Taking them from lab to full commercialization was amazing.” Banavali continued environmentally minded innovation as global vice president of research and technology at Huntsman, where he helped build a less wasteful industrial dying process for cotton garments. Now, at WestRock, he’s helping develop sustainable paper packaging in order to phase out single-use plastic. In addition to his work, Banavali has served as a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council for the UMSL College of Arts and Sciences since 2007. According to Dean Andrew Kersten, Banavali recently

Photo by Dot Paul

“made a substantial gift to the Chemistry Department to foster the teaching and research into green and sustainable chemistry.” In October, the UMSL Alumni Association presented him with a Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his contributions. He is thankful but says he feels a duty to give back to the institution that gave him so much. “I’m passionate about what I’m doing, and maybe that’s why it works,” Banavali says. “I’m really grateful for everything UMSL has done for me.”

Big data has long been in Seda Follis’s wheelhouse. A student in the University of Missouri–St. Louis’ Master of Social Work program, Follis has manipulated colossal amounts of data for more than two decades in numerous positions, including director of advanced analytics at Express Scripts and director of healthcare analytics at BJC Healthcare. “I loved it,” Follis says, recalling projects from over the years – including an early effort modeling pharmaceutical sales 15 years into future, the development of predictive models related to prescription drug adherence, and the development and implementation of COVID-19 analytical solutions to support the management of the pandemic across the system and the region. But when she had a moment to breathe and reflect, her gut told her she needed to look beyond the numbers.

Follis started thinking where she wanted to spend the next 20 years of her career, and the pandemic gave her courage and space to act. She considered psychology or sociology but, after consulting with an academic advisor, was drawn to the interdisciplinary nature of social work.

“I am a life-long learner and energized by making a positive impact,” Follis says. “I now want this impact to be direct rather than through data and analytics.” Follis tested the waters as a part-time student. One of her classes “Diversity, Social Justice and Social Practice” gave her assurance that she was on the correct path. After that, Follis dove in as a full-time student and is on track to graduate in May 2023. The married mother of two says things could have been overwhelming, but she feels privileged. “In a way, I have a sabbatical from working, but I’m also bettering myself,” she says. “Hopefully, I will be able to give back even more to society and the community.” Although still in the first year of her MSW, Follis is already giving back. Last year, she assisted in allocating holiday funds to families through the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s partnership with the 100

MSW student SEDA FOLLIS

leaves behind big data for individual impact

By Timothy Wombles

Neediest Cases and drafted grants for a non-profit for a senior empowerment project. She also worked with the grassroots initiative One West Florissant.

The breadth of the social work program has opened up a world of possibilities for the future. “Originally, I thought I wanted to work with more individuals like myself – immigrants,” Follis says, recalling moving to America from Turkey in 2001 for her first master’s degree in economics and finance. “My first master’s degree was an adventure since I didn’t really know where I was headed, but my MSW degree is more purposeful and focused on serving others.” In the near future, Follis is eager to get started on fieldwork for her practicums, which will focus on individuals and families. A motivating factor for starting the program was the moments she recalled making a positive impact on team members and coworkers.

“I want to do things that touch hearts, not just databases,” Follis says with a laugh. “I never got a thank you note from any database.”