Sean Joe

Sean Joe is a nationally recognized authority on suicidal behavior among Black Americans, and is expanding the evidence base for effective practice with Black boys and young men. He writes about Community Science as a new perspective on knowledge co-produced by academic researchers and community members, which has the potential to enrich science by broadening our participatory research theories, designs, analytical methods, and the use of technological innovation.  Joe’s epistemological work focuses on the concept of race in medical and social sciences.

Working within the Center for Social Development, Joe has launched the Race and Opportunity Lab, which examines race, opportunity, and social mobility in the St. Louis region, working to reduce inequality in adolescents transition into adulthood. The lab leading community science project is HomeGrown STL, which is a multi-systemic placed-based capacity building intervention to enhance upward mobility opportunities and health of Black males ages 12-29 years in the St. Louis region. 

He is exploring new opportunities for engaging in larger-scale policy experiments by using data to examine wealth inequalities and barriers to wealth building for Black men. This includes understanding unequal labor market outcomes for men and the regional system-level factors that impact economic conditions in low- to moderate-income communities, which serve as barriers to equity in economic mobility, earnings, and capital access for Black workers.  

He serves on the Advisory Committee of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Gun Violence Research and Education, as well as on the boards of the St. Louis Education Fund and the American Academy for Social Work and Social Welfare.

In recognition of the impact of his work, Joe was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the Society for Social Work and Research, the New York Academy of Medicine, and a Community Development Research Fellow of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

In Brown School News

Sean Joe named Institute for Economic Equity research fellow
November 21, 2024

WashU Receives Grant to Address Economic Mobility of Black Youth
June 7, 2024

Sherraden to Receive Distinguished Career Achievement Award
December 19, 2022

HomeGrown StL Wins Social Justice Innovation Award
October 13, 2022

Regional Steering Committee Named To Enhance Efforts For Black Boys, Young Men In St. Louis
November 15, 2021

Brown School Presentations at APHA 2021
October 25, 2021

Brown School Partners with STL Mayor’s Office to “Transform” Public Safety
September 2, 2021

The Brown School’s International Center for Child Health and Development Builds a Pipeline of Researchers from Underrepresented Backgrounds
April 8, 2021

Brown School’s Race and Opportunity Lab recommends specific policing reforms
July 1, 2020

Professor Sean Joe Wants to Change the Lives of Young Black Men in St. Louis
February 8, 2020