Stephen Jamal Leeper

2166 E. 27th St. #14! Oakland, CA 94606

Phone: 415-364-8297 ! E-Mail: stephenj.leeper@gmail.com

Summary of Qualifications

Multiple Subject and Social Science Single Subject Teaching Credential issued by the California Commission on Teacher
Credentialing

Developed and implemented scope and sequence and six unit curriculum for newly established Ethnic Studies Program at
Aptos Middle School in San Francisco, CA.

Member of the San Francisco Unified School Districts Ethnic Studies Working group, tasked with Common Core aligning
existing curriculum for implementation across all high schools in the district.

Past consulting clients include global grassroots interfaith network, United Religions Initiatives, and Center on Criminal
Juvenile Justice San Franciscos primary provider of training and employment services for the criminal justice community.

Education and Certifications

California College of the Arts

San Francisco, CA

2012- 2015

Los Angeles, CA

2013-2014

Greensboro, NC

2007-2009

San Francisco, CA

2013-Present

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing - GPA: 4.0

Student Graduate Commencement Speaker
Loyola Marymount University
Urban Education Early Multi Subject Credential - GPA: 3.93
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology - GPA: 3.38
Deans List Fall 2008; GPA: 3.92

Professional Experience
Aptos Middle School, Teacher

Subjects taught include English Language Arts and Medieval history, and Ethnic Studies. Currently serve on the Instructional
Leadership team, a committee tasked with redesigning school policies. Through a partnership with an organization specializing in
action civics education, launched a student led anti-bullying campaign during my first year. In competition with middle and high
schools across San Francisco, students won a leadership award at City Hall for the strategy and tactics of their campaign.
Carver Middle School, Teacher
Los Angeles, CA

Summer 2013

Selected from more than 45,000 applicants nationwide to join national teacher corps, Teach for America, who commit two years to
teach in under-resourced public schools. Taught in a summer school program for students in Los Angeles area public schools, under
the supervision of a faculty of experienced teachers. Engage in a full schedule of professional development, including: seminars,
workshops, individual and group reflections, readings, and learning teams specific to teaching license area.
San Francisco Organizing Project, Community Organizer
San Francisco, CA

2010 - 2012

Primary responsibilities included leadership development & teaching political strategy to parents, students, and lay leaders in faith
institutions. Co-led citywide education reform committee and was the lead organizer of the youth violence prevention and economic
development campaigns in Bayview Hunters Point and the Excelsior districts. Organized parents and teachers at Leadership High
School in campaign for renewal of the schools charter after the California Charter School Association pressured the Board of
Education to revoke it. Leaders conducted research actions with board members and organized press event outside of central office

Consulting Experience
Center on Criminal Juvenile Justice (CJCJ)


San Francisco, CA

2012

After a recent organizational merger, CJCJ contracted my services for the design and facilitation of a staff retreat. There were three
main goals for the retreat:
-
Relationship building between members of newly formed staff team
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Co-create organizational mission statement, vision statement, and logo.
-
Learn research based stress relief practices for sustainability and self care

United Religions Initiatives (URI)



San Francisco, CA

2013
URI contracted my services to support the expansion of its Young Leaders Program (YLP). YLPs mission is to connect and develop
the leadership potential in youth from diverse communities. For six weeks, I helped to recruit and train youth leaders in public
speaking and storytelling to prepare them for a culminating event called the Youth Speakers Panel. The purpose of the panel was to
provide paid opportunities for youth participants to develop and share the personal narratives with other youth from diverse
backgrounds. Student speakers travelled around the Bay area giving presentations in high schools and community organizations.

Research & Publications

Leeper, Stephen. Nigrescence: Becoming Black MFA thesis, California College of the Arts, United States California.

Leeper, Stephen. "On Guard." Mattu, Ayesha and Nura Maznavi. Salaam, Love: American Muslim Men on Love, Sex, and
Intimacy. Beacon Press, 2014. 179-189.

Leeper, Stephen. "Where You From in Africa?" Monday Night Lit. 12. Ed. Jessica Wickens and Nana K. Twumasi. Oakland:
Monday Nigh Lit, 1 June 2013.

In Summer 2009 acted as research assistant to Erica Curtis, Project Administrator of the Cognitive, Affect, and Physiology
(CAP) Study project in the Psychology Department at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Project participants
included a diverse sampling of 24-month-old children. Duties included experiment coordination, coding, and data entry

Won 1 place in the 2009 Reading Day Poster contest for research experiment on the Halo Effect. The experiment assessed
the impact race, as a salient characteristic, has on perceptions of cognitive ability. Student participants rated the quality of
good and bad essay excerpts written by white students and black students. The results found that race influenced
perceptions but not to the level of statistical significance due to history effects.

In Spring 2009 acted as research assistant to Dr. Paul Silvia, Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at University
of North Carolina at Greensboro. Conducted experiments on psychological aesthetic emotions, hostile emotions, and self-
conscious emotions. Participants engaged in a series of tests involving response to controversial artwork and their ability to
taste phenylthiocarbamide. Duties included running conditions in experiment, organizing participant materials, and data
entry using SPSS.

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Affiliations

California Teachers Association

United Educators of San Francisco

Teach for America San Francisco Corps

Association of Writers and Writers Programs

Bay Area Muslim Writers Collective

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