Stephanie is a senior foreign policy and national security expert and advisor, attorney, and human rights advocate advising NGOs, corporations, sovereign governments, candidates, political nominees, and other individuals with interests before all three judicial branches of the federal government facing complex policy, legal and governance challenges. Stephanie has a proven track record of serving her country and community, protecting those most vulnerable, and solving difficult public policy problems. Stephanie earned her bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 2002 with a double major in political science and women's and gender studies, graduating with distinction in the women's and gender studies major and receiving the Lily Rosen Prize for scholarship on women's health issues and the Dean Temple Memorial Trophy. At Yale, Stephanie was elected to the Yale College Council and the Freshman Class Council as a representative for Trumbull College and was appointed to and served on the Dean's Advisory Committee, the Yale Sexual Harassment Grievance Board, and as a Trumbull Freshman Counselor. She also volunteered with the Yale Law School Temporary Restraining Order Clinic, with the City of New Haven as a Domestic Violence Crisis Counselor and First Responder, and at the Yale Women’s Center and worked as a Research Assistant to Yale Law School Professor Judith Resnik. Stephanie remains a proud and active alumni volunteer. She is currently serving her third five-year term as the Secretary of the Class of 2002, is an ex officio delegate for her class to the annual Yale Alumni Association Assembly and Convocation, and is a former Vice President of the Yale Club of DC.
After Yale, Stephanie received her juris doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law in 2005, graduating order of the coif and serving as editor in chief of the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice. Following law school, Stephanie spent two years working as a federal law clerk, serving judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before entering private practice as a litigation attorney.
In 2011, Stephanie answered the call to serve her country and was commissioned as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. She spent seven years working in embassies around the world: strengthening democratic institutions, political parties, and electoral systems in Haiti; assisting U.S. citizens in Brazil; and protecting and promoting international human rights while based in Washington, D.C.
Stephanie resigned her commission in the United States Foreign Service and left the State Department in 2018 in order to lead the U.S. Foreign Policy Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She conceived of and developed legislation protecting reproductive rights globally which has more than 180 co-sponsors in Congress; sued the State Department for failure to report on violations of women’s and LGBTQ human rights; and worked with a coalition of nonprofit leaders to advocate against the harmful global gag rule and work to advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all persons around the globe.
In September 2019 Stephanie announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in New Jersey's Fourth Congressional District and she won a three-way, heavily contested democratic primary with 70% of the vote in July 2020 to become the democratic nominee. On November 3, 2020 Stephanie received over 163,000 votes in the election, winning 40,000 more votes than any democratic opponent of 40-year incumbent Rep. Chris Smith, but failed to defeat the long-serving republican.
Stephanie is based in Washington, DC and continues to work as a human rights advocate and attorney and national security and foreign policy expert. She has appeared on numerous podcasts and programs including the Daily Beans and Repros Fight Back and her recent publications include op-eds in Foreign Policy, Ms. Magazine, and the The Star-Ledger. Stephanie received the Department of State's Meritorious Honor Award for her work in Haiti on women's political empowerment and leadership in 2013, was honored as an Emerge New Jersey 2019 Woman of Achievement, and is a member of Foreign Policy for America's Leadership Circle.
