Stephanie Owens Email and Phone Number

The Vice President implements the strategic vision of Student Success at Common App, a non-profit membership organization representing over 1000 institutions of higher education that connects student applicants and those who support them to a wide array of public and private colleges and universities. This includes traditional-age students, independent/adult students, educators, CBOs, and others working along the pipeline of college access. The VP leads student outreach and engagement efforts and is responsible for increasing student’s awareness and engagement with Common App, including creating Common App accounts and completing college applications through the platform. The scope of this work also involves coordinating the alignment of goals of internal staff priorities with external partner efforts, including strategic development; overseeing social media activations, event planning and management; and VIP and stakeholder outreach, partnership development, and cultivation. This includes:-Assessing baseline level data of student engagement.-Determining what motivates and inspires students to engage. -Building a theory of change aimed at increasing engagement.-Developing programs and strategies to measure and increase engagement.-Overseeing budget responsibilities of projects exceeding $8M and utilizing data to improve service to members and students. -Implementing student feedback loops and student-centered interventions.-Building a social media presence in collaboration with the communications team that encourages student engagement and amplifies student voices.-Ensuring student perspectives are leveraged to enhance Common App offerings to educate constituents, including members and affiliates.

The Executive Director of Reach Higher, an initiative founded by former First Lady Michelle Obama to increase college access and awareness among first-generation and low-income students, is responsible for developing the strategies to support Reach Higher campaigns and brands. The Executive Director-Oversees and executes all public events initiated by the college access and completion mission of Reach Higher, including but not limited to nationally recognized College Signing Day, Beating the Odds, School Counselor of the Year, off-the-record conversations with stakeholders, and school counselor convenings; this includes the annual College Signing Day event that has connected with over 25k students in person and over 100K students in schools across the US and abroad-Oversees all aspects of external-facing college access completion initiatives, including College Signing Day, Beating the Odds, School Counselor of the Year, Excellence in College Counseling, and Becoming book tour events-Develops strategies and manages budgets and execution of signature programs of the Reach Higher campaign events such as College Signing Day, Beating the Odds, and school counselor award events.-Engages with high profile and celebrity partners to maximize reach to Gen-Z audiences-Ensures alignment of priorities, programs, and digital communications with Common App's brand and messaging

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Common App acquired Reach Higher in January 2021. Michelle Obama maintains her role as leader and voice of Reach Higher and as an advocate for its mission to support underrepresented students on path to college.-Transitioned the student-facing programmatic work of the Reach Higher initiative from Civic Nation to Common App-Advised former First Lady Michelle Obama and her staff on education policy issues and Common App priorities to increase access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process-Strategically developed and spearheaded signature programs and events for the Reach Higher campaign, such as College Signing Day, Beating the Odds, and school counselor award events, including budget management and implementation. Ensured Reach Higher programs aligned with and supported broader Common App goals while integrating Common App values and priorities with those of Reach Higher.

Successfully transitioned Reach Higher as one of only two initiatives started by the First Lady during her time in the White House to a thriving non-profit organization – Civic Nation – to continue after the Obama Administration. Reach Higher seeks to build a college-going culture by empowering underrepresented youth to chart their own post-secondary pathways while equipping them with information, inspiration, and guidance. At the end of this term, I supported the ultimate acquisition of the initiative by a multimillion-dollar non-profit, Common App. -Supervised major fundraising events and supported the launch of Becoming book tour student conversations.-Advised former First Lady Michelle Obama and her staff on education policy issues-Managed, directed, and executed external facing college access completion initiatives, supporting thousands of students and college access professionals-Drafted and edited presentations, correspondence, strategy documents, and other materials regarding Reach Higher-Managed Reach Higher interns and fellows and provided professional development to junior staff

Established the Reach Higher Initiative in partnership with the Office of the First Lady and the U.S. Department of Education in a first-of-its-kind partnership to support first-generation, low-income, and minority students to go to and complete college. Inspired by President Obama’s North Star goal to lead the world as the nation with the highest college completion rates, coupled with the First Lady’s passion for and personal relationship with higher education, Reach Higher set out to guide students and their families on their paths to higher education.-Managed the First Lady’s Reach Higher college access and completion initiative at the Department of Education-Served as the primary liaison between the White House Office of the First Lady and the Department -Advised the First Lady and her staff on education policy issues-Drafted and edited speeches, talking points, correspondence, strategy documents, and other materials regarding Reach Higher-Represented the Department and Reach Higher at conferences, interagency meetings, and other external meetings-Coordinated senior Department staff engagements with stakeholders, particularly students, educators, and college access advocates

-Served as the liaison between the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Department of Education-Served as a liaison between state and local elected officials and the Department -Drafted and edited talking points, stakeholder correspondence, strategy documents, and op-eds for the -Secretary and senior officials-Organized stakeholder meetings and conference calls with the Secretary and high-level staff at the Department-Planned and executed departmental parent outreach events featuring the Secretary and surrogates for external stakeholders-Represented the department at conferences, interagency meetings, and other external meetings

Began eight-year tenure as a political appointee in the Obama-Biden administration at the U.S. Department of Education, demonstrating progressive job growth and responsibility across the agency in policy and advocacy roles-Worked directly for the Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, who oversees the majority of federal grants, programs, and initiatives affecting K-12 students-Gathered data and key findings from internal and external sources to brief the Assistant Secretary on daily events and meetings -Managed scheduling, travel requests, and requests for meetings and appearances from external groups, media, and other stakeholders

Managed operations and coordinated communications for the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs

Worked with the political and field departments to develop, manage, and implement aggressive voter registration, volunteer opportunities, and Get-Out-the-Vote programs in more than fifteen states

Worked closely with policy staff, outside experts, and Alliance advisory groups to research, analyze, develop and refine federal policy recommendations, federal legislation, federal advocacy, strategy reports, briefs, fact sheets, and other publications

The School District of Philadelphia is the 8th largest school district in the nation, by enrollment, serving over 200,000 public school students.Managed, evaluated, and served as departmental liaison for key executive projects to advance the relationship between the Office of the Chief of Staff and internal and external constituencies. Previously served in a four-month paid internship with the Chief Operating Officer.