Stephanie Rene Colon

Previous Degrees Obtained

Prescott College, Master of Arts Degree in Social Justice and Community Organizing. Long Island University- Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, Minor: Alternative Therapies.

Research Topic

. The research of Black women activists in the United States who are impacted by the emotional and physical consequences of activism burnout, racial trauma, and racial battle fatigue.

. The transformative development of an innovative project called Healing Education for Revitalization (HER). It is a 8- week educational workshop series created to combat the social injustice experienced by Black women activists.

. The utilization of an anti-oppressive lens and theoretical frameworks (i.e. Black Feminism, Liberatory Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, etc.) to analyze and contribute to a restorative dialogue about renewal and sustainability of Black storytelling genre.

I have been privileged to be employed in the non-profit and public sector while living in Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and throughout the United States. I have worked for many years of in community organizing and planning as an executive director, bilingual case manager, high school guidance counselor, clinical supervisor, therapeutic cultural arts coordinator, group facilitator, certified peer specialist and personal medicine coach. I am a descendent of Gullah storytellers who were enslaved Africans from the occupied Lowlands of South Carolina and Georgia. I have been a professional performing artist/choreographer with extensive teaching experience with African and contemporary dance techniques for 40+ years.

I graduated from Fiorello LaGuardia School of Music and Art and Performing Arts in New York City. I am a trained professional dancer who had a full scholarship at Mary Anthony Studio, Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and Olatunji School of African Culture. I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Alternative Therapies from Long Island University/Global College. I completed certificate programs at Columbia University for Management and Cornell University. I graduated with a Master’s Degree from Prescott College in Social Justice and Community Organizing in August 2023.

I am a member of the First Monday Executive Undoing Racism Collective, and the People of Color Undoing Racism Accountability HUB BIPOC Ship Hub. I am an organizer for the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB) Northeast Regional Leadership Committee. I developed and facilitated racial equity and peer recovery-centered curriculum for groups at IFH/OnTrackNY and the Northeast & Caribbean Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network/Regional Peer Worker Support Circle at Rutgers University in New Jersey. I was a family advocate consultant for the Family Connectors Project at New York University Langone and a racial equity consultant for Pat Deegan & Associates LLC.

I am a commissioner for the Black Women’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; a volunteer co-facilitator and presenter with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Metro NYC; and on the Board of Directors of Friends of Recovery of New York. I dedicate my life to advocating for the end of stigma and oppression of poor People of Color, people living with mental illness, and the LGBTQ+ community.

My professional and volunteer work as an anti-oppression warrior affirms my passion for ending socio-economic injustices. My academic research on the Healing Education for Revitalization (HER) Project is a burden of love that capsulate my continued commitment to  the educational sustainability of Black women activists.