Brooks Goedeker
Over the last two decades, Brooks Goedeker has a proven track record of working alongside St. Louis’ institutions, its business community, and its residents to turn innovative community and economic development concepts into reality. In that time, he has helped to guide over $4 Billion in construction activity in the City of St. Louis and has worked with thousands of residents to identify their community’s needs and build programs and initiatives to address them. Brooks has a Psychology and Sociology degree from Knox College, a master’s degree in Social Work from Saint Louis University and a master’s degree in Non-Profit Management from Washington University. Brooks has taught courses in leadership, community development and nonprofit management as an adjunct professor at Saint Louis University. As Saint Louis University’s Executive Director of Community and Economic Development, Brooks works to attract investment around the university’s campuses, ensures that the area is safe and attractive for students and visitors, and supports the existing residential and business communities. In the last decade, Brooks has assisted in the growth of Midtown St. Louis, which includes the $350 million City Foundry development, the new Armory district, a mixed-use Target store, the Element by Westin Hotel, a new Topgolf, over 1,000 new apartment units, dozens of new homes and condos, and the new St. Louis University Hospital and Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Prior to arriving at Saint Louis University, Brooks served as the Executive Director of Park Central Development, a nonprofit organization that promotes economic growth in the city’s central corridor, including the Grove and Central West End neighborhoods. In that role, he guided over 50 percent of all construction activity in the City of St. Louis between the years 2013-2017. Brooks has also served as the Community Development Manager for Washington University Medical Center where he directed community initiatives related to social and human services, economic development, safety and security, and was the project manager of the entry-marker Grove signs. Beyond St. Louis, Goedeker has worked in communities across the country, including Philadelphia, Cleveland, Memphis and Minneapolis. Brooks and his wife Erin raise 3 children in the Holly Hills neighborhood in south St. Louis. In 2022, Brooks Goedeker created the Holly Hills Special Taxing District, which he continues to chair today.
Appears in 1 Episode
Two Centuries Shaping St. Louis
In part one of this episode of 1818: A Saint Louis Alumni Podcast, Meg Connolly (A&S ‘90, GRAD A&S ‘92) speaks with SLU alumnus Jody Sowell, Ph.D, president and CEO of...
