BUILDING FUTURES TEAM

Trish returned home to St. Louis after 20 years building teams and securing investment to promote economic development and disrupt systemic poverty through innovation and education around the globe. She joined the Building Futures team in September 2022. Prior to joining the team, she founded the Future School of Fort Smith, a public charter high school centered on student voice and real world application, Think Future, a network of investors, thought leaders and students creating equitable access for opportunity in public education, Noble Impact, a social entrepreneurship education initiative, and Picasolar, an early stage solar energy company. In 2013, she was named one of Arkansas Times ”Visionaries of the Year’.

In her early career, Trish led vocational training for itinerant teens in Ireland at age 19, provided advocacy for homeless & immigrant families in San Francisco, taught secondary social studies on the US/Mexico border with Teach For America, pioneered the Sandy Bay Alternative School in the Honduran Bay Islands, and created community engagement guidelines for Room to Read’s school libraries program (Asia/Africa).

Trish has raised more than $11 million of philanthropic investment dollars. In addition to holding a Missouri teaching license, she earned an MBA from the Walton College of Business and an MPS from the Clinton School of Public Service.

Felicia Kennedy is Founder/Chief Executive Officer of the FL Kennedy Group. Also, she is the contracted senior fundraiser/grants operations leader for Building Futures. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a Master of Public Service for the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. Felicia is an accomplished professional with more than 30 years of leadership experience. She has expertise in program and project management, program evaluation, facilitating community dialogues, grant writing/management, and youth leadership development.  Also, she served in the Peace Corps from 2018-2020 in the Republic of Georgia as an English teacher. 

Since 1992, Felicia has served in many capacities for Youth Motivational Task Force at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. From 2009-2011, she was a founding board member and Vice President of the Board for Visions Academy Charter School in Newark, New Jersey. In the past, she has supported several youth focused leadership and development programs as either fundraising director, board member or strong advocate. Her life’s goal is to support youth development and success all over the globe.

Raemese returned to St. Louis from San Diego where she attended college for Business and Administration. She raised a family where she honed her skills in domestic engineering. Managing a full family of 8 was no small task. She eagerly accepted the challenge and was successful in her endeavors. After building a plumbing and maintenance company with her husband, she returned to St. Louis a few years ago to help care for her parents. She joined the YMCA as a member specialist. She loved engaging with members and looked at them as extended family going the extra mile to make sure their needs were met. Raemese is determined to not only help keep operations at Building Futures running smoothly, but take it to the next level. She wants to help make Building Futures a pathway for as many kids as possible.

Kelly is an engineer with a passion for STEM outreach. She received a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and a Master’s in mechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins. Before joining the Building Futures team, she was an aerospace engineer for Northrop Grumman in Maryland working on solid rocket motors. She is most proud of supporting the final testing and production drawings for the Attitude Control Motor on NASA’s Orion Spacecraft.

Upon returning home to St. Louis during the pandemic, she finished her master’s degree and deepened her woodworking skills. Taught by her dad, he first exposed her to woodworking for a design competition at the Science Olympiad. Since then, she has been a part of many STEM organizations and events to provide that crucial early exposure to engineering and building for other kids. These experiences include being the STEM chair for AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Delaware and having a seat on Northrop Grumman’s Elkton Site STEM Council. She believes Building Futures is the most effective STEM outreach she’s been a part of and is excited to share it with the kids in this community.

Julia joined the Building Futures team in May 2023 as a summer intern. She is entering her junior year of college at Washington University in St. Louis studying architecture at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts. She is also pursuing two minors in studio art and creative practice for social change. Julia is a member of the Goldman Fellows Program through the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University. This program connected her to Building Futures through mutual interests in utilizing design to make a social impact in St. Louis. In addition to her architecture education, Julia has a background in working with kids through her volunteer work at Camp Courageous, a camp for kids with disabilities. She is very eager to join the team as an educator, helping to spark excitement about hands-on construction and creative learning in the community.

Brayon received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale (SIUC) where he majored in Cinema and Photography with a Minor in Art and Design. While at SIUC, he was active in the Photography Club and served as Treasurer. Brayon also attended the St. Louis Community College (Florissant Valley Campus) where he received his Associate in Fine Arts (AFA). While attending STLCC, he served as Vice President and President of the Photography Club. He was a member of the Student Government Association where he helped organize “Chalk For Peace” to stop violence in the community. Brayon enjoys working with the children that Building Futures serves, both in the schools and during the weekend classes held at the workshop.

Lacey is an Interior Architecture and Design MFA candidate at the Academy of Art University and is completing her thesis within interior architecture. In 2010, Lacey served her community and established herself as the Creative Camp Director at the only local camp offered to children during that summer in her neighborhood. Developing creative ways to engage young, urban, creative minds including field trips, mural projects, interactive storytelling, vision boarding and much more – Lacey strove to instill a sense of community, creativity and responsibility in 60+ youths aged 6-12 years. Recently, she has worked as a public school educator, community educator, and as a business owner designing and developing concepts of commercial and residential spaces.

Kate is a NOCO (North St. Louis County) native who has spent the past several years traveling, working and studying in Latin America. Her background specializes in the performing arts, with a BA from Columbia College, Chicago. In a nonprofit setting she helped create pathways to international markets for skilled artisan weavers in Guatemala, and before that, she worked as a consultant in sales and design in the fashion industry in Chicago, the Detroit metro area and afterwards, in Mexico City and Oaxaca. Back in her hometown, Kate feels honored to serve students in the St. Louis area as each one gathers the skills and experience they need to build the life of their dreams. She continues to hone her own skills as a maker and teacher and, through Building Futures, has extended her reach to include guiding and leading a garden engineering program in the various schools Building Futures serves.

Amy originally hails from Minnesota. Amy earned an Associates Degree in carpentry degree from Hennepin Technical College and has since incorporated those skills into everything she has done. Her background includes working at non-profits, including her last job, where she worked her way up to assistant director of a summer camp. Her love of building things with her hands, instilling hard work and problem-solving skills among kids, and her can-do attitude are just a few of the skills she brings to the table. Amy believes that teaching kids how to work with their hands and construct a project from fruition to completion is a powerful tool to give to our youth.

Benjamin H. Kosberg, goes by Koz, started acquiring skills to fulfill the desire to live a life of creative accomplishments, with a hope to give back to others as much as possible. Such skills include carpentry work,ranging from hardwood flooring installation, framing, electrical, and overall residential home work, creative skills that include woodcarving, furniture building, playing musical instruments, singing, music arrangement, and writing. With a passion for learning, and the zeal of an educator. As a woodworker Koz has speciality in wooden carving epoxy inlay, examples can be found on social media pages as Kozzy Bear Creations.  Also a founding member of, and tuba player for, The Red and Black Brass Band. A New Orleans Style Brass Band started in the pandemic of 2020, and based in St. Louis, MO.