In 1976 at age 22, Ellen Schapiro set off on a cross-country trip on her Motobecane bicycle from Astoria, Ore., to Pensacola, Fla. Schapiro took the trip with her sister in search of adventure. Nearly 50 years later, Schapiro is still biking and seeking unique experiences. These days, that often takes the form of volunteering for a variety of organizations.
Schapiro has advocated for women’s rights and abortion access for more than 15 years. She has been an intake volunteer and escort for Planned Parenthood. She is a member of the Jewish Community Center board and chairs the Early Childhood Education Committee. She also previously devoted her time and efforts to the Nishmah women’s group.
“My first real board experience was with the Scholarship Foundation,” Schapiro said. “That is really meaningful work. I chaired the program committee. We redid how we evaluated applications for interest-free loans to students in underserved areas. It was started by NCJW (National Council of Jewish Women) in 1920.”
When Schapiro commits to a volunteer role, she goes all in. The Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund is a good example. She is a board member and chair of the book discussions.
“We give grants to small nonprofits,” Schapiro said. “You really get to see what’s happening in St. Louis and understand some of the needs of nonprofits. We put on some really good events that highlight problems that are going on nationally, and also how they affect St. Louis. For example, it could be on early childhood, it could be the prison pipeline.”
After graduating from Ladue Horton Watkins High School, Schapiro enrolled in Clark University in Worcester, Mass. It was then that she gravitated into women’s groups. That included a one-year program at a women’s college in Switzerland. Schapiro went on to earn a master’s degree from the University of Colorado in experiential education. She then traveled to Israel with her sister, where the two worked on a kibbutz. She also started leading bike trips and found an ideal job for a nature lover.
“I started working at Camp 40 Legends in Washington, Mo.,” she said. “It was a small, very beautiful little camp. Way ahead of their time. Way ahead in terms of environment. I was very involved with that camp and with that family that ran it.”
Returning home to St. Louis, she got a job at the St. Louis Regional Experiential Adventure Movement. About that time, a family friend helped arrange a cross-country skiing date with a young engineer, Gerald Axelbaum. The pair had much in common, including their love of nature. Axelbaum has long been a proponent of environmental preservation. He is also a volunteer “burn boss” who regularly oversees the prairie burn at Stacy Park in Olivette.
“Gerald is very outdoorsy, so that has made our life very fulfilled,” Schapiro said. “We’ve done a lot of bike touring, backpacking, lots of camping, and we took our kids along. It’s been a big part of our life.”
Schapiro taught French at Parkway North Junior High School. Then the couple moved to California, where Axelbaum found an engineering job. They lived in Pasadena, where Schapiro worked at a girls club and then an alternative school focused on experiential education. They moved back to St. Louis to be closer to family and raised a family of their own. Axelbaum and Schapiro are members of Congregation B’nai Amoona.
In 1991, Schapiro started teaching at the Ethical Society Nursery School. She eventually became director of the school, a position she held for 25 years. Jill Allen, a colleague at the Ethical Society, called Schapiro “tireless.”
“I first really noticed it when I was a parent at the preschool, and then I started working for her and I got to see Ellen behind the scenes,” Allen said. “There’s no pretense, there’s no superficiality with her. She’s very direct and very kind and also funny. I would just say a woman of impeccable integrity.
“She’s no-nonsense and highly ethical. She conducts herself with integrity and holds herself to a very high standard. She brings people up with her and expects people to do the right thing.”
Schapiro probably inherited her progressive attitude from her mother, who was outspoken and not shy about calling out injustices. Her father served on nonprofit boards and supported Jewish Hospital and the Jewish Center for Aged.
Daniel Axelbaum said his parents encouraged their children to give back to the community.
“I think both my parents passed down the value that we all have a responsibility in this world to help in the ways that we can,” said Axelbaum, who works for an immigration law firm. “I definitely feel like I learned from her that I have a responsibility to try and make a difference, and that each of us can make a difference. It’s not an excuse to say that the problem is too big and I’m too small in the ways that we can help.
“She’s an amazing woman. A lot of the volunteer work she’s been doing comes very naturally as just a part of her life that I think she just expects of herself, she doesn’t really question beyond it’s something that needs to be done. I just think she’s a woman of principle and has the causes and principles that are important to her.”
Schapiro’s work improves the community around her, her son said.
“One of her passions, which she dedicated her career to, is early childhood education,” Axelbaum said. “I think she sees that all of these young kids are going to grow up and be citizens, and her work was to help prepare those young minds. That really provided a great service to the community, her work in early childhood.
“And her other big cause is women’s rights. Her dedication to volunteer to help ensure women have the right to different services provides great service for those that need it.”
