The Greater St. Louis Chapter of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources was founded in 2001. It was founded as a response to the great need of unifying local minority professionals for the goals of gaining information and providing leadership on issues affecting their individual careers and the workforce as a whole. While many had previously recognized such a need within the Greater St. Louis area, Ed Flowers took the initiative in forming the chapter after being inspired by the 2000 National NAAAHR Conference in Chicago. It was here that he envisioned St. Louis being a part of a well-established organization that would fulfill the city's needs.
In order to make his dreams come to fruition, Ed solicited the help of several key HR professionals within the St. Louis area—forming the first executive board. The initial team consisted of: Ed Flowers as President, Ann Marr as Vice President, Glenn Dalton as Secretary, and Angela Ruffin-Stacker as Treasurer.
Despite the many challenges faced in forming the chapter from the ground-up, the interest shown was so great, that at the inaugural meeting at World Wide Technology in June of 2001, over 100 HR professionals attended. In fact, the chapter had such a significant impact that they were asked to host the following National NAAAHR Conference after only one year of activity. This event had tremendous success with not only attracting over 350 HR professionals, but by also bringing much-needed attention back to the city of St. Louis.
Today, the Greater St. Louis chapter of NAAAHR consists of hundreds of members and associates, ranging from top executives to students. It is our goal to not only provide a means of facilitating knowledge-sharing in light of our professions, but to also maintain a very open, yet close-knit community.
