Jocelyn Stephens

Jocelyn J. Stephens is the Lead Strategy Officer for RISE Colorado.  With over 21 years of educational expertise serving in predominantly Black, Brown, immigrant, and refugee school communities, she holds a deep passion for addressing and eliminating the academic and opportunity gaps for students to succeed now and in their future. Prior to becoming the Chief Strategy Officer at RISE Colorado, Jocelyn was the Executive Director of Education at Public Education and Business Coalition and served 17 years in the Aurora Public School district as a teacher, instructional coach, K-8 and high school assistant principal, elementary principal and district Learning Community Director or regional superintendent responsible for a network of up to 14 schools.  She holds a B.S. in Early Childhood Education, from the University of South Florida, a M.Ed. in Education in Administrative Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Colorado at Denver, and post graduate coursework in Reading Development from Walden University.  Jocelyn is a 2019 Colorado Governor’s Fellow and a 2015 recipient of the Denver Chapter of The National Council of Negro Women Living Portrait of African American Women Award for Educational Leadership. Jocelyn is an active member of her community and volunteers as a mentor to teens and young adult women. In her free time, Jocelyn enjoys spending time with her “framily” (friends and family), journaling, dancing to good music, cozy coffee chats and summer hikes. She is the wife to her best friend, Marcos, and together they share in the journey of raising three beautifully talented daughters.