Building an Economy that Works: Why We Invested in the Inclusive Prosperity Partnership
St. Louis has significant untapped economic potential. Regional GDP grew 11% from 2019 to 2024, trailing the U.S. average of 12.8% and leaving the region 28th out of 50 peer metros for overall growth.
And the gains that have occurred have not been broadly shared: in 2024, only 49.8% of St. Louis residents had individual financial security, meaning that they had enough income to cover basic living expenses while saving at least 10% for future emergencies.
The path to a thriving regional economy runs through, not around, the families and communities currently being left behind.
The Inclusive Prosperity Partnership (IPP) formed to address these challenges directly. The James S. McDonnell Foundation is proud to have invested $30 million in seed funding to launch the IPP, reflecting our commitment to build a stronger regional economy that benefits everyone.
The Inclusive Prosperity Partnership: A Model for Inclusive Regional Growth
Housed at the St. Louis Community Foundation, the IPP is a pooled fund designed to advance inclusive growth and economic mobility across the St. Louis region. Its bold $161M vision is grounded in a simple but powerful belief: when regions invest in shared decision-making, transparent data, and coordinated action, they can unlock pathways to lasting prosperity.
The partnership encourages collaboration between philanthropy, business, civic institutions, and community leaders through three interconnected strategies:
- Co-designed solutions
- Pooled investment and implementation
- Shared learnings and data
These strategies are intended to align stakeholders around shared goals and create pathways to inclusive growth grounded in both research and lived experience. Over the next decade, the IPP will address five barriers to economic mobility, including quality jobs, early childhood education, and affordable housing. Through Solution Design Cohorts, cross-sector leaders come together in a facilitated process to develop interventions for each priority.
Work is already underway. The IPP’s Quality Jobs Solution Design Cohort is actively developing solutions to expand access to stable, living wage jobs that provide comprehensive benefits and opportunities for advancement. Connecting talent to opportunity strengthens both workers and employers, helping the entire economy function better.
Civic Infrastructure for a Stronger Economy
If we want a stronger regional economy, we must build solutions that include everyone, from the beginning. Too often, regional plans and well-intended initiatives are developed without the voices of people most affected by them and investments are fragmented across sectors and institutions.
This is where civic infrastructure matters. Without the relationships, data, and shared decision-making needed to act collectively, investments fail to achieve fully scaled and sustained impact.
That insight sits at the heart of the Inclusive Prosperity Partnership and reflects JSMF’s belief that how we work together matters just as much as what we invest in. For the St. Louis region, the IPP offers a blueprint for how to build and sustain the collaborative partnerships needed for coordinated action – to create the lasting civic infrastructure needed to grow an economy that works for everyone.
Why We Invested
JSMF’s seed investment demonstrates our belief that through coordinated action, St. Louis can unlock true pathways to prosperity for everyone in our region.
By covering startup and infrastructure costs, JSMF ensured that every additional dollar contributed by partners goes directly to solution implementation, maximizing impact from the start. Now, the IPP is seeking additional funding from visionary partners toward our funding goal of $161 million.
By working together, St. Louis can harness our region’s strengths to build shared prosperity — boosting quality jobs, raising standards of living, and ensuring more people thrive in a growing economy.
“Inclusive prosperity doesn’t happen by accident. It requires shared commitment, credible data, and the willingness to work across sectors for the long term. The IPP creates the structure our region needs to do exactly that.”
— Jason Purnell
JSMF President & CEO
IPP Steering Committee Chair
To learn more about the IPP, visit ippstl.org