It is with joy and immense gratitude that I announce that Paulette Foerster, Chief Program Officer of the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund, will retire on July 3, 2025.
A Lasting Legacy At CSF
Since joining our team in 2017, Paulette has left a lasting imprint on the organization and everyone she worked with. She was the catalyst for improving our processes and practices in many ways. She worked closely with our funded partners to develop consistent practices and standardized outcomes for services. She was instrumental in initiating and building out CSF’s data collection and reporting operations – including advocating for adding a data analyst position to our team – to better measure the collective impact of CSF and our partner organizations. She played integral roles in the development of our advisory committees including Community Advisory Committee and our School-Based Advisory Committees, our Board of Directors’ Program & Performance Committee, and developing our practicum program for macro-level Master of Social Work students.
Collecting Signatures To Keep Kids First
Some of you may also know that Paulette’s connections to CSF run deeper than her 8-year tenure as our Chief Program Officer. During the Keeping Kids First campaign, she helped collect signatures that eventually led to the Putting Kids First ballot initiative. The passing of this ballot initiative by St. Louis County voters ultimately led to the creation of CSF. It is serendipitous – and to our great benefit – that she chose to close out her career with us.
37 Years of Leading With Empathy
As a 37-year social servant working in administration, supervision and direct service, Paulette has had a career filled with countless achievements that speak to her dedication to supporting the wellbeing of children and families in our region. For those of us who have had the pleasure of calling her a colleague, however, I think her most lasting legacy is the way in which she approaches her work.
Paulette leads with empathy in all that she does. Her warm and collaborative spirit has guided CSF toward a partnership approach in our work and strengthened relationships with our funded and community partners. For our team internally, Paulette has been an impactful and trusted leader, encouraging creative thinking, continuous learning, and honest discussion, which has helped foster a culture of trust and openness.
As Chief Program Officer, Paulette has continuously and successfully balanced, and advocated for, the needs of children and families, the priorities of local service providers, and CSF’s responsibility of conscientious resource distribution. Because of this, we are thrilled that she has decided to continue to support our work by assisting on special projects during her retirement. We’re so grateful for her many contributions throughout the years and wish her all the best in her well-deserved retirement.