Project Director & Director of Asset Building in States and Coalitions
Center for Social Development
George Warren Brown School of Social Work
Washington University in St. Louis
Gena Gunn serves as Project Director and Director of Asset Building in States and Coalitions at the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University's Brown School.
Ms. Gunn has extensive project management, program development, and policy advocacy experience in the areas of asset-building, asset policy coalition development, and workforce development assistance for low-to-moderate-income-households and marginalized populations. She leads efforts to identify systemic barriers experienced by vulnerable populations and to advance effective solutions through coalition building, advocacy, and legislative change. Her work with CSD primarily involves policy research analysis and consultation with community-based asset-building programs, state and federal policymakers, and advocate groups. Ms. Gunn's program development and policy advocacy work focus on asset building, coalition development, and community economic development assistance for low- and moderate-income households and marginalized populations. Her research focuses on identifying and advancing asset-building policy strategies for state and regional coalitions.
Prior to joining CSD, Ms. Gunn developed, managed, and directed the first state Individual Development Account (IDA) Program in Missouri while working for East-West Gateway Coordinating Council and Council of Mayors organization in St. Louis, Missouri. She continues to counsel individual states regarding IDA policy and programs, and consults about other asset-building policies to non-profit organizations and the federal government. Ms. Gunn earned a bachelor's degree from the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL and business management master's degree at Fontbonne University in St. Louis.
