Heart disease’s heavy toll in St. Louis
St. Louis American See page A7
The
FEBRUARY 5 – 11, 2026
Serving, empowering and advocating for equity in St. Louis since 1928
stlamerican.com
Vol. 97 No. 43 COMPLIMENTARY
Helping move women forward Leslie Gill named 2026 Nonprofit Executive of the Year
By Sylvester Brown Jr. St. Louis American The 1996 film “Jerry Maguire,” about a high-powered sports agent navigating the business of professional athletics, motivated a young Leslie Gill to believe she would one day have a career in sports management. “I always sort of had this vision that I would be a sports agent,” Gill said. “I was really interested in sports growing up, so, from a little girl, I watched the Jerry Maguires of the world and was
Leslie Gill serves as president and CEO of Rung for Women, a St. Louis nonprofit she helped transform.
like, ‘I can be the first female Jerry Maguire.’” Instead, Gill’s career shifted into public service through both nonprofit and for-profit organizations, that included deep involvement in social welfare work, including serving as CEO of Annie Malone Children’s & Family Services, a longtime St. Louis nonprofit that supports children and families affected by abuse and neglect. Today, Gill serves as president and CEO of Rung for Women, a St. Louis nonprofit she
See GILL, A11
Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
Science Center CEO defends YES pause By Melanie Eversley For The St. Louis American Leaders of the St. Louis Science Center broke their silence this week on why they paused a beloved STEM program that supported young people from underserved communities, a decision that left families, students and former staff searching for answers. Science Center President and CEO Ray Vandiver addressed the pause in a lengthy statement sent to the St. Louis American. He said the Youth Exploring Science program — known as YES — was suspended in mid-December because leaders saw three problems they could not ignore: unstable long-term funding, limited systems for tracking student outcomes after Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
See SCIENCE CENTER, A11
A leading voice in data visualization and human-centered computing, Dr. Alvitta Ottley focuses on how people interpret information, navigate uncertainty and make decisions at a moment when the AI industry is still defining the best uses of its tools.
Dr. Alvitta Ottley
Black businesses may benefit from Olympic soccer in ’28
Changing how the world understands data
By Nia Hightower For The St. Louis American As artificial intelligence reshapes how information is produced and consumed, computer scientist Dr. Alvitta Ottley asks a more fundamental question — how do people actually think with data? A leading voice in data visualization and human-centered computing, Ottley focuses on how people interpret information, navigate uncertainty and make decisions at a moment when the AI industry is still defining the best uses of its tools. Her research centers on designing visual systems that strengthen human judgment rather than replace it, using machine learning, or AI, not as an answer engine but as a tool to help people ask better questions of their data and
Her research centers on designing visual systems that strengthen human judgment rather than replace it.
By Sylvester Brown Jr. St. Louis American As St. Louis prepares to welcome Olympic soccer for the first time in more than a century, some local Black leaders and business owners say the international spotlight could create new opportunities — particularly for Black-owned vendors already operating at Energizer Park. Olympic competition will return to St. Louis in 2028, with soccer matches scheduled at Energizer Park during the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Event organizers announced that the stadium — home of St. Louis City SC — will host preliminary and knockout-round
See SOCCER, A10
See OTTLEY, A10 BUSINESS
SPORTS
Black-owned businesses shut down to protest ICE operations
There’s nothing trivial about Black stars in Super Bowls
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Black-owned businesses across Minnesota participated in a general strike to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, as an act of community solidarity.
With Super Bowl Sunday almost here, Alvin Reid provides some African American Super Bowl trivia before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots square off in Santa Clara, California.