Saint Louis Ambassadors
Volunteers promoting community service and goodwill in St. Louis...since 1965!
The Unification of 3 All-Volunteer Organizations:
Effective January 3, 2015 the Saint Louis Ambassadors [SLA] formed a 'partnering effort' with two groups it launched, which include the U.S. Small Business Institute [SBI] and the 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation [1904]. SLA was launched in 1965 and it launched both SBI in 1985 and 1904 in 2002. All three are related and have a combined strength of 1,444 members, supporters and volunteers.
36 Committees and Chairs:
(alphabetical order for all 3 organizations)
All meetings are called by Committee Chair on an ‘as needed’ basis.
1) Annual Holiday Event Committee – Joanie Bengston [[email protected]]
- plans our annual board member and guest holiday 'black tie optional' gala to thank and recognize individuals
2) A Weekly Networking Group - Rich Pisani [[email protected]]
- we have been meeting every Monday since 2007 at Mimi's Cafe in Chesterfield Valley to help each other in the charity and business
3) Archives Council – Rob Mitchell [[email protected]]
- archives photos of our events and places them in our 'Time Capsules' at Saint Louis University Archives
4) Community Through Unity Council – Dr. Jim Logan [[email protected]]
- works with civic, business and political leaders to promote goodwill throughout the St. Louis Region
5) E-Newsletter – Mark Johnson [[email protected]]
- communicating updates to our members about events, projects and general information on a monthly basis
6) Executive Board – Rich Pisani [[email protected]]
- individuals who act in an advisory capacity to give suggestions and advice to the officers of the organizations
7) Executive Committee – Cicardi Bruce [[email protected]]
- individuals who act in an advisory capacity to give ideas, and advice to the Co-Founders of the organizations
8) Finance Committee – Sean Clancy [[email protected]]
- our Treasurer & Legal Counsel handles our income, expense and IRS responsibilities
9) Golf Tournament Committee – Wayne Kaufman [[email protected]]
- we give volunteer support to an annual golf tournament that funds the needs of Children & Veterans
10) Healthcare Council – Judy Bentley [[email protected]]
- we give volunteer support to a free health care clinic in St. Louis that handles over 50K patients annually
11) I -net Newspapers Committee – John Parker [[email protected]]
- we operate 3 newspapers that disseminates 'fresh news twice daily' to 967k e-contacts in the 46 LinkedIn groups
12) I-net Radio Team – Mark Kasen [[email protected]]
- we operate 2 radio stations that offers both live,talk radio and music as a complimentary benefit to our me mbers
13) Membership Committee – Cheri Otzenberger [[email protected]]
- we gain and maintain members and help place them on the right committee
14) Mentorship Council – David Nations [[email protected]]
- we consult, coach and mentor both students and entrepreneurs
15) Officers & Executive Board – Rich Pisani [[email protected]]
- we work with the leadership to gather ideas and advice to operate the organization
16) People With Disabilities Council – Frank Meyer [[email protected]]
- we train people with disabilities to become volunteers in order to help others
17) Political Affairs Council – Vicki Schneider [[email protected]]
- we work with local, county and state officials on issues that affect our community
18) Public Relations & Communications – John Parker [[email protected]]
- we send out press releases on an 'as needed' basis to alert and solicit others help
19) Regional Affairs Council – Rick Stream [[email protected]]
- we interface with community groups and supply volunteers in the St. Louis Region
20) Racial Equality Council – TR Carr [[email protected]]
- we work with local groups that are continually trying to 'ease racial tensions'
21) Scholarship Committee – Tom Ousley [[email protected]]
- we work with high school seniors on scholarship funds so they can progress to college
22) Sister Cities Council – Sam Solomon [[email protected]]
- we work with the local council to address issues in our fifteen St. Louis Sister Cities
23) Small Business Council – Rich Pisani [[email protected]]
- we consult, coach and mentor small businesses at no charge
24) Small Business Support Group – Andrew Armstrong [[email protected]]
- we work with businesses thru our SBA 'SCORE' support program for business owners
25) Small Business Funding – Dennis Melton [[email protected]]
- we work with small businesses on their start-up funding and continued capital needs
26) Small Business Development – Ralph Turney [[email protected]]
- we work with business owners to help them with their 'entry and exit strategies'
27) Small Business Planning Team – Dr. Jerome Katz [[email protected]]
- we help create short and long term business plans for the success of the company
28) Small Business Expansion Group – Dick Mueller [[email protected]]
- we discuss the possibility of expanding your firm by franchising
29) Small Business Coaching – Barry Cervantes [[email protected]]
- we offer business coaching to upper level executives and owners of small businesses
30) Social Media Team – Joel Kirk [[email protected]]
- we show charities and businesses how to use social media to market their organization
31) Speakers Bureau – Cicardi Bruce [[email protected]]
- we make presentations to local organizations on important events and topics
32) Special Events Committee – Fran Capra [[email protected]]
- we handle the planning and execution of special events for our three groups
33) Time Capsule Committee – John Walsh [[email protected]]
- we have 'Time Capsules' with items secured in the Saint Louis University Archives Dept.
34) Young Professionals – Rachel Boone [[email protected]]
- we encourage professionals under 40 to join one of our committees to support St. Louis
35) Veteran’s Affairs Committee – Wayne Kaufman [[email protected]]
- we support Veteran's groups and those who have 'kept our country free'
36) Website Development Team – Rich Pisani [[email protected]]
- we solicit ideas to continually improve our three organizations websites