WOMEN WHO INSPIRE
DEDICATION AND COMMITMENT
SOS President Gwendolyn Wesley enjoys helping others
By VICKI BENNINGTON
Gwendolyn “Gwen” Wesley has spent her
adult life working and volunteering in the
community, and she has a real heart for
helping children.
For more than a decade, she has been an
“on call” third party reviewer for foster care
cases in St. Louis County, which may involve
two or three cases a year.
She may serve as an unbiased “third party”
between deputy juvenile officers, social
workers, therapists, caseworkers, house
mothers, or sometimes the family and/or the
child, especially if the case involves a teenager.
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“Sometimes I talk to the teens - ask about
goals and help them realize they can speak
for themselves and can be in charge of their
own lives to make positive changes,” Gwen
said. “I want to help children recognize their
value, and to realize they deserve to be loved
and cherished.
“We have to give children a chance,” she
said. “They all deserve loving homes, and
being caught in the system shouldn’t be the
final destination for any child.”
Gwen originally intended to be a teacher, but
began working for the Division of Children
and Family Services as a caseworker, then
GAZELLE STL
later as a quality control agent, auditing
cases for the state of Missouri.
She worked as a consultant and contract
trainer for National Court Appointed Special
Advocates (CASA) of Seattle, Washington,
serving on the Curriculum Advisory and the
African-American Advisory committees.
On the local level, she served on the board
of CASA of St. Louis County (now Voices
for Children).
“One of my most memorable moments
was when my good friend and her husband
adopted two children for whom I served as
their CASA,” Gwen said. “It was absolutely
the best thing in the world.”
Gwen moved into IT work at McDonnellDouglas, then moved to Monsanto, but
never gave up on her commitment to
helping children. In addition to her ongoing
foster care work, Gwen has volunteered
as a reading role model for St. Louis public
schools and with the OASIS reading tutor
program in the Hazelwood School District.
At Monsanto, she added to her skill sets,
learned to write code for business systems,
configure computer systems and provide
computer software training. She worked as
manager of information systems technology,
managed a user support center, and was a
manager of governmental and environmental
affairs, among other positions.
“And I did a lot of public speaking with both
CASA and Monsanto,” she said. She’s also
been singing publicly all of her life – or at
least after her first attempt at age 12.
That ’s when she was given her first
opportunity to sing a solo lead at church, but
when her big moment came, she froze.
“I just couldn’t get the words out, and the
choir went on without me,” she said. “I had
a wonderful coach and mentor though, who
told me, ‘you can do this,’ and that never
happened to me again.”
Since then, she has had many public
performances, where she was far from
frozen. She is a charter member of the St.
Louis Symphony In Unison Chorus and a
member of the Legend Singers of St. Louis
Choral Ensemble. With these groups and
as a soloist, she has performed as a jazz
vocalist at The Chapel with the University
of Missouri-St. Louis and Washington
University jazz bands; at The Sheldon with
the African Music Chorale; and on the
stages of Powell Symphony Hall and the Jazz
Museum of Kansas City.