Since early April, TFA St. Louis has enjoyed working inside Delmar DivINe, a collective working space located in one of St. Louis’s historic neighborhoods. As the brainchild of Build-A-Bear Workshop founder and prominent local philanthropist, Maxine Clark, the building serves as a meeting ground for several local nonprofits and social innovators in the community. Teach For America’s alumni are fortunate to share space with each other in Delmar DivINe which has set the stage for casual conversations in passing and highly collaborative partnerships - opportunities that might not happen for teams who aren’t an elevator away or one hallway down from fellow organizations.

We caught up with a few of TFA’s alumni at Delmar DivINe to find out what they’ve been up to in the community and to learn how their corps teaching experiences have informed their respective career paths as equity-focused change agents.

NOTE: This is a two-part series - read below to get the scoop on our first set of features and stay tuned for our second half that will highlight more amazing stories on TFA alumni thriving in the Delmar DivINe.

Meet Kate McKearn (Chicago ‘04) - Executive Director, Eye Thrive

Kate McKearn of Eye Thrive loves building community at Delmar DivINe. A St. Louis native, she  became a corps member for Teach For America in 2004 and taught 4th grade for two years in Chicago. The experience inspired her to enroll at Dominican University where she obtained her Masters degree in Education.

“I fell in love with teaching,” Kate said. “My kids taught me a lot, and it was in that first year of teaching where I saw that my passion really lies with creating better opportunities for students with an education that’s fair and equitable. I wanted to do my part in making that happen.”

Kate eventually moved to St. Louis where she became an English Language Arts (ELA) educator at Carver Elementary in the St. Louis Public Schools District. She credits her time at Carver with her realization that she needed a change of pace, with a different focus that involved finding a solution to a largely overlooked barrier for many low-income kids in classrooms: poor eyesight.

Soon after, Kate landed a job as Director of Development at Eye Thrive, a nonprofit that makes high-quality eyecare accessible to all children in the St. Louis region. She currently serves as the organization’s Executive Director, creating effective strategy plans that help children in underserved communities as she oversees her team’s daily operations.

“For the first time, we’re running at full capacity,” Kate said. “This year, we will provide over 14,000 vision screenings, 6,000 comprehensive eye exams and 9,000 pairs of eyeglasses for low-income families. We go directly to schools in high needs areas to break down that barrier to transportation and expense. We also host summer visits at libraries and partnering community organizations where the family brings their kids and we get to interact with everyone, teaching good eye health practices and the importance of getting annual checkups to mitigate diseases that impact the eyes, like diabetes.”

Since the 2013 launch of Eye Thrive’s flagship, Mobile Vision Clinic, the organization has doubled its staff and plans to launch a second Mobile Vision Clinic by 2025. The group’s move into Delmar DivINe is what many would call ‘divinely timed’, as it gives ample room to be in the company of other like-minded nonprofits. Kate particularly credits her early days with Teach For America for the relationships she’s forged at Delmar DiVIne and beyond.

“TFA is a great network to be a part of, and I’m really proud to say my career path started with this group.”

Meet Marcus Howard (Las Vegas ‘13) - Owner & CEO, GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness

Marcus Howard is the owner and CEO of the newly launched GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness inside Delmar DivINe. His tenacity, hard work and showmanship shines a light on the progress dwelling in the shared space of equity-minded leaders. 

A St. Louis native, Howard completed his Teach For America corps experience in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he explored his passion for education. After three years in the classroom as a middle school teacher, he pursued a PhD in Leadership Policy and Human Development to expand his knowledge on the impact of high stress environments on students in underserved communities. He also served as Chief Innovation Program Officer for TFA Las Vegas where he focused on product management and reimagining the crucial role of education for low-income children of color. 

“Those experiences deepened my understanding of how to improve systems,” said Howard. “TFA especially helped me hone my entrepreneurial skills from a fundraising and partnership development standpoint. “ 

Howard eventually used his expertise to seek out opportunities with others who shared his passion for creating an equitable future for the St. Louis community. One individual was his a high school friend, a pharmacist who Howard often had discussions with about the disparities in both education and healthcare. Their conversations ultimately helped compel the launch of GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness.

“It’s the first radically inclusive and culturally responsive pharmacy in the country,” Howard said. “Being that there are limited systems in place for people of color, women and LGBTQ communities, we wanted to ensure that we have services that help improve the health outcomes for this city’s most vulnerable residents.” 

GreaterHealth Pharmacy and Wellness is now open to the public. All staff are trained to provide personalized care, including educational resources, gender health screenings, point-of-care testing and free delivery to bridge transportation barriers. For more information, visit greaterhealthpharmacy.com. 

Meet Libby Sunkari (St. Louis ‘12) - Director of Operations, The Opportunity Trust

There’s never a typical day for Libby Sunkari at The Opportunity Trust. As Director of Operations, she’s charged with making sure her team has the resources they need to do their jobs. Essential tasks include managing HR, maintaining operational systems and ensuring the organization’s bills get paid. There’s a lot to her role, but she appreciates the fulfillment it brings, especially since she gets to work closely with several TFA alumni on a daily basis.

Libby was first introduced to the education sector when she was doing volunteer work as an undergraduate student in Chicago. Although she hoped to end up residing in a new city that she could explore, she landed back in her hometown, St. Louis, which wound up helping her see the disparity in education across the region.

“It felt really personal and jarring being in the place where I grew up and seeing the contrast of what was available to me versus what was available to other kids,” Libby said.

During her corps experience with Teach For America, she taught kindergarten for two years and discovered she actually liked doing more behind-the-scenes work in the education field. After leaving the classroom, Libby worked in district offices, which helped her see barriers to improving educational outcomes from a systems level.

While employed at a nonprofit that focused on youth development, she realized that while the organization was supporting kids, it was not fixing barriers affecting children in underserved communities. Libby was excited to learn about The Opportunity Trust and its strategic approach towards improving outcomes for kids in St. Louis.

During her corps experience with Teach For America, she taught kindergarten for two years and discovered she actually liked doing more behind-the-scenes work in the education field. After leaving the classroom, Libby worked in district offices, which helped her see barriers to improving educational outcomes from a systems level.

While employed at a nonprofit that focused on youth development, she realized that while the organization was supporting kids, it was not fixing barriers affecting children in underserved communities. Libby was excited to learn about The Opportunity Trust and its strategic approach towards improving outcomes for kids in St. Louis.

“I’ve been working here since 2020,” she said, “We’ve recently grown and doubled in team size which requires building structures to help everyone succeed in their roles. I’m the point of contact who works with the Delmar DivINe team to make sure our team has the resources they need to be successful.”

The Opportunity Trust is working to develop and support local education leaders through their fellowships including their flagship, the Catalyst fellowship, which  just launched their sixth cohort. The program helps connect educators across the region as they think about new, innovative ideas they can bring to their work.

“It’s exciting to see so many TFA alums participate in our programs and lead across so many schools and organizations in St. Louis. You can really see the collective impact we have on the community.”