Howard C. Stevenson

Howard C. Stevenson is the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education and Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. He directs the Resilience Empowerment Collaborative (REC), a center focused on racial literacy and health in schools and communities. His work emphasizes culturally responsive interventions to address racial stress and trauma, including the PLAAY Project (using basketball and therapy) and the SHAPE-UP Project (training barbers as health educators). Stevenson has been recognized with the 2020 Gittler Prize and membership in the National Academy of Education. His research is funded by the W.T. Grant Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and NIH. He frequently engages media to discuss racial literacy, mental health equity, and youth development, appearing in outlets like the New York Times and TED.

Stevenson’s career includes roles such as faculty master at W.E.B. Du Bois College House (1994–2002) and co-director of Forward Promise (2015–2021). His awards include the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings (2021, 2024) and the 1993 W.T. Grant Faculty Scholar Award. Key grants include NIH-supported projects on racial literacy interventions. His book Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools is a cornerstone of his work. Current initiatives focus on Philadelphia community programs and national advocacy for marginalized youth.

Grants and labs include the PLAAY and SHAPE-UP projects, funded by multiple foundations. Media contributions highlight his role as a thought leader on racial trauma, with recent features addressing police violence, school shootings, and anti-racist parenting. Stevenson’s work bridges academia and community, emphasizing practical solutions to systemic racial inequities.