SHEILA SUDERWALLA

Sheila Suderwalla’s entire career has been in the nonprofit sector, working with a variety of populations. With over 25 years’ experience working with communities in need, some of her successes as a social worker have been featured in publications such as The New York Times, St. Louis Post Dispatch, and Time Magazine. In 2023, she was recognized by St. Louis Magazine as one of the “Women That Make St. Louis Great.”

Since 2013, Sheila Suderwalla, Executive Director, has built Artists First, an inclusive nonprofit art studio empowering artists of all abilities, into an award-winning organization. Under her leadership, Artists First received the Governor's Council on Disabilities’ 2019 Inclusion Award and, in 2023, received the Missouri Arts Award - Arts Organization of the Year by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office / Missouri Arts Council. In 2017, she was recognized as one of the "100 St. Louisans You Should Know" (Small Business Monthly Journal), and in 2023, she was awarded the Arts Innovator Visionary Award. As a juried winning artist, she has incorporated art into her work with individuals who have experienced trauma. 

Sheila obtained her Bachelor of Arts from Principia College, Masters in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Certificate in Expressive and Integrative Therapies from Fontbonne University.