Stefani Weeden-Smith.
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2026-09-17 • Sam Fox School
Sam Fox School to expand Office for Socially Engaged Practice
2026-09-17 • Sam Fox School
Weeden-Smith’s portfolio will include OSEP’s Summer Public Design Workshop. In the 2026 iteration, students partnered with Dutchtown South Community Corporation and Dutchtown Main Streets on a bus stop shelter and community wall. (Photo: Kevin de Miranda/WashU)
Stefani Weeden-Smith, a veteran St. Louis community engagement strategist, has been appointed to a new role in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.
Beginning Sept. 22, Weeden-Smith will serve as assistant director of community engagement in the Sam Fox School’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice (OSEP). Since its founding in 2014, OSEP has helped to identify, coordinate and build a wide variety of community-driven projects and related outreach activities across the St. Louis region.
“We are so grateful for the support of our community partners and how this new role will allow us to expand and deepen our relationship with St. Louis,” said Charlie White, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School. “Stefani’s skillset and expertise will deepen our impact through meaningful community collaborations in the region.”
Weeden-Smith is founding director for the St. Louis Anchor Action Network, which combines public and private resources to address the effects of historic disinvestment in healthcare, education and other sectors. She previously served as assistant director of community engagement in WashU’s Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement.
In the Sam Fox School, Weeden-Smith’s portfolio will include strategic operations and public partnerships. She also will develop and manage key design/build initiatives, such as the annual Summer Public Design Workshop.
“Returning to WashU in this new role feels especially meaningful,” Weeded-Smith said. “It’s a full circle moment marked by new possibilities. I’m excited to bring my experience in community engagement and cross-sector collaboration to the Office for Socially Engaged Practice and help create new pathways for connection, learning and shared impact. I look forward to building what’s possible together.”
Before coming to WashU, Weeden-Smith served as program director at NCCJ St. Louis (now the Gateway Equity Institute); and as interim executive director for the nonprofit Teen Pregnancy Prevention Partnerships. Other prior roles include positions with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis, the Saint Louis Art Museum and Art St. Louis.
“This is an exciting time,” said OSEP director Matthew Bernstine. “The Sam Fox School is committed to expanding socially engaged work. Stefani brings passionate commitment and a wealth of experience to the assistant director role. Growing our capacity means that we can strengthen our impact across campus and more importantly within the St. Louis region.”
Weeden-Smith, a St. Louis native, earned a bachelor of science in business from Rockhurst University in Kansas City and a master of professional studies from The Pratt Institute in New York. She holds a certificate in non-profit management from New York’s Baruch College and has served as adjunct faculty at several St. Louis colleges and universities, including WashU.
About the Office for Socially Engaged Practice
Located within WashU’s Sam Fox School, the Office for Socially Engaged Practice serves as a central hub for connecting and deepening the relationship between St. Louis residents and WashU faculty and students. Major activities include community-driven projects, course grants, student fellowships, and K-12 programming. The office also provides training in community-centric design processes and supports a minor in creative practice for social change.
Recent and ongoing projects include Peace Park, a new community-owned public amenity in St. Louis’s College Hill neighborhood, created in collaboration with the St. Louis Development Corporation; Design Openings, a collaboration with the Pulitzer Arts Foundation that supports art and design projects and installations in Covenant Blu Grand Center; the Engaged City initiative, which seeks to reclaim St. Louis’s cultural legacy through projects, grants and community fellowships; and the Alberti Program: Architecture for Young People, which helps St. Louis students grades 4 through 8 to explore architecture and design through hands-on learning.
For more information, visit the OSEP webpage or follow them on Instagram.
About the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
A leader in architecture, art and design education, the Sam Fox School is committed to advancing those fields through innovative research and creative practice, excellence in teaching, a world-class university art museum and a deep commitment to addressing the social and environmental challenges of our time. Through the work of its students, faculty and alumni, the school strives to create a more just, sustainable, humane and beautiful world.