| University | Semester | Year | Course | Department | Instructor(s) | Students Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington University In St Louis | Spring | 2026 | Philanthropy Lab | Sociology | Barbara Levin | 30 students |
| Washington University In St Louis | Spring | 2025 | Philanthropy Lab | Sociology | Barbara Levin | 26 students |
| Washington University In St Louis | Spring | 2024 | Philanthropy Lab | Sociology | Barbara Levin | 18 students |
| Washington University In St Louis | Spring | 2023 | Philanthropy Lab | Sociology | Barbara Levin, David Rigby | 12 students |
| Washington University In St Louis | Spring | 2022 | Philanthropy Lab | Sociology | David Rigby | 18 students |
| Washington University In St Louis | Fall | 2019 | Philanthropy Lab | Sociology | Elizabeth George | 21 students |
Barbara Levin, MSW, is a skilled and dynamic nonprofit professional with over 40 years of experience leading and managing professional staff and volunteers, creating and executing programs, teaching, consulting, training, facilitating, mentoring, and building coalitions among diverse community partners. She is a demonstrated organizer, systems creator, team builder, and motivator.
In May 2020, the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University appointed Levin as a Teaching Professor. She has been on the staff since 2002 as the Program Manager for Community Capacity Building and Field Education, providing structure for Brown’s placed-based initiatives by managing and implementing community initiatives and coordinating the work of graduate students with partnering institutions and organizations in defined settings. As an adjunct professor, Levin taught Community Development Practice and Urban Development Seminar (in collaboration with St. Louis University School of Law, School of Urban Planning and Design, and the Fox School of Design at Washington University) Effective Meeting Management and Community Facilitation, Volunteer Management, and the Integrative Seminar for Field Practicum. In spring 2023, Levin was asked to co-teach a class on Philanthropy in Sociology Department at Washington University. This course will provide $40,000 in grant awards to four area nonprofits. She is also a qualified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator© administrator.
Levin retired from the University in May 2022. Active in the community, she serves on the board of MaTovuSTL. She is a founding board member and past chair of Nonprofit Missouri, the state’s association of nonprofits. She is the past president of St. Louis ArtWorks and the past Treasurer of the Ferguson Nonprofit Center. In 2022, Levin was recognized by the Community Builders Network for her Lifetime Achievement for work in community development.
Levin has an MSW from the University of Maryland, School of Social Work.
Unique Course Components
- Alumni Giving Circle – Course alumni contributed their own funding to a “giving circle” initiative, then decided together where to allocate those funds as a bonus among the current class’s selected orgs.
- Forming Class Foundations:
- Students have 2 minutes, with a timer, to make the case for why an issue area should be considered.
- Each issue is posted on the wall with three main supporting points.
- Students circulate in the room and consolidate the issues if appropriate, resulting in 4-5 issue areas surrounding which students form Foundation groups.
- Each group drafts a mission and vision statement at beginning of the class
- Uses a modified version of an RFP, more a letter of interest
- Student groups vet the organizations and make site visits, inviting orgs to apply for a grant.
- Class has built relationships with 3-4 local philanthropic entities (giving circle, community foundations, corporate foundations), students allocate funding on behalf of the org
- Class is periodically hosted off site at funding entities or nonprofits
- At a nonprofit housed in the historic Sumner High School
- Engages many St. Louis area philanthropists and practitioners to share expertise with the class
Guest Speakers
- Ryan Rippel, Gates Foundation
- Dr. Jason Q. Purnell, James McDonnell Foundation