Chief Executive Officer, YouthBridge Community Foundation
2024 Board of Directors, Treasurer
2024 Finance Committee, Chair
Barbara Carswell is the Chief Executive Officer at YouthBridge Community Foundation. As such, Barbara takes a leadership role in philanthropy services and community impact. She is responsible for YouthBridge’s grantmaking programs and services including donor advised funds and private foundations established by individuals, families and businesses.
Barbara’s areas of expertise include grantmaking, strategic philanthropy advice, family foundation administration and gift planning. She has substantial experience in nonprofit management, strategic planning, fundraising and taxation. Having worked in both the nonprofit and legal sectors, she served as Executive Director of Springboard to Learning and, prior to that, was a tax attorney in the Washington, D.C., offices of Alston & Bird and King & Spalding.
After studies in Bonn, Germany, and Geneva, Switzerland, Barbara earned a law degree from the University of Munich and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Georgia. She is admitted to the New York bar.
Barbara serves on the Boards of Philanthropy Missouri and the St. Louis Council of Charitable Gift Planners. She is a member of the St. Louis Estate Planning Council and the Better Business Bureau Charity Information Service Committee and has extensive volunteer experience in the St. Louis community.
How does Philanthropy Missouri support your work in the philanthropic sector?
Philanthropy Missouri enables me to participate in interesting learning opportunities and engage in discussions with my grantmaking peers.