Stephanie Roberson


Director of Statewide Engagement
She/her

Black American and European Ancestry

Contact Information

StephanieR@oregonwellbeing.org

(971) 380-3315

What is your work at the Trust?

I engage with our partners and stakeholders through relationship building, assessment, and strategic planning to ensure that our work at the Trust remains community driven and responsive to community identified need.

Why do I do this work?

I do this work because well-being is, and should be, a conversation and a co-created space. Well-being is cultural, contextual, and deeply impacted by environment, and authentic community engagement is a crucial part of staying in alignment with that reality.

What unique talents do I bring to the work?

  • Experience as an educator and mental health practitioner to inform how I think about wellness, and a deep respect and compassion for public school employees.
  • A deep fascination with using data to inform our dreamspaces, and to help turn those dreamspaces into something workable using the resources we have.
  • A strong praxis of cultural humility and questioning the “givens” when it comes to well-being, and how it “lives and breathes” in our lives.

Previous work/credentials:

I worked in the School District of Clayton, MO for ten years, first as a substitute, then by running an elementary before and after school program, and then as a Spanish and ELL teacher. I then transitioned to mental health and served as a clinician with the Office of Refugee Resettlement, working with unaccompanied youth. I’ve also had the honor of working as an Adjunct Instructor at Portland State University in the School of Social Work, and Director of Operations with The UPRISE Collective.  

Who am I?

I’ve hopscotched across the country in my life – from North Carolina, to Illinois, to Missouri, and now Oregon – and I love to find “home” in others, and to feel them find home in me. I love reading, puttering around in my garden, and spending time with my son.

What does well-being look like for me?

I owe my understanding of well-being to my ancestors and believe that centering well-being is part of my responsibility as an ancestor in the making. For me, it means honoring my capacity, maintaining a strong focus on intersectional justice, centering joy as a liberatory practice, and accepting messiness and nuance as part of the work.