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St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
Alumni Association Board Member
Board member since 2026
A proud 1991 graduate of Northwest Missouri State University, Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge has devoted her life to advancing excellence, equity, and justice through leadership, education, and community service. A native of St. Louis, Pamela embodies Northwest’s core values to Learn, Connect, Care, Practice Civility, and Show Pride—leading with purpose, integrity, and compassion across every sphere of her work.
As an undergraduate, she made campus history by leading the effort to establish the Pearls of Essence Interest Group of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, inspired by St. Louis native and AKA founder Ethel Hedgeman Lyle. Her early leadership, including service as Program Chair of the Alliance of Black Collegians, laid the foundation for a career defined by courage, accountability, and impact.
Pamela retired in 2024 as a General Partner at Edward Jones Investments, where she led enterprise-wide technology audit and risk strategy. Her three-decade career also included senior leadership roles with Express Scripts, Anheuser-Busch, and Bank of America, where she built nationally recognized programs in governance, risk management, and operational excellence.
She holds an MBA from the University of Missouri–St. Louis and maintained professional certifications in financial, operational, and information-systems auditing through her retirement.
Pamela served on the Missouri State Board of Education from March 2020 to July 2026, helping shape statewide education policy and chairing the Board’s Strategic Planning Committee. She continues to serve on the Governor’s School Funding Modernization Task Force and was recently appointed to chair the STL Region Future of Public Education Task Force, a community-led effort responding to declining public school enrollment, fiscal pressures, and other structural challenges facing St. Louis-area public school districts.
Pamela is also President of the Celia Newsom Legacy Foundation (CNLF), which preserves and advances the legacy of her second great-grandmother, Celia Newsom—an enslaved Callaway County, Missouri woman whose 1855 act of self-defense against sexual violence, conviction, and execution remain a defining chapter in Missouri’s legal and moral history.
Under Pamela’s leadership, Celia received a posthumous pardon, and the Missouri Legislature passed Senate Bill 348, establishing Celia Day, the Celia Memorial Highway, and Human Trafficking Awareness Week in her honor. Through CNLF, Pamela also advocates for the prevention of rape, domestic violence, and human trafficking, ensuring that Celia’s courage continues to inspire education, awareness, and justice today.
Pamela’s civic and philanthropic work reflects her belief that education, history, and justice are inseparable. A lifelong member and leader in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, she continues to mentor emerging leaders and champion initiatives that honor both legacy and progress.
She and her husband, Harlan B. Hodge, a youth-leadership and diversity professional, live in St. Louis and are the proud parents of Brylan Hodge.
