John Fort, St Louis SVP

John Fort, founder of St. Louis Social Venture Partners, explores ways to motivate others in the St. Louis business community to become more engaged in philanthropic causes.  John recognized the change in attitude towards philanthropy among business leaders and wanted to bring a program to St. Louis that would engage that new attitude.  For the past few years, John has been investing time and resources in an innovative new approach to philanthropy called Social Venture Partners or “SVP”.

He realized that Social Venture Partners would be the bridge that would link business leaders in the St. Louis region with community nonprofits.  He presented the idea to The Regional Business Council and as a result, St. Louis Social Venture Partners was launched.

In addition to spearheading St. Louis SVP, John started the Children’s Legal Alliance in 1998 to help children with educational problems receive the special schooling they need.  He is currently the Program Manager for The Children’s Legal Alliance, a program of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, a nonprofit organization providing legal representation for indigent people.  He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas.  John and his wife, Mary Kaye, have four children and he is a board member of Vision for Children at Risk and serves on the board at Community School where his children currently attend.