Director of Early Learning Strategy 

Rasheba Stevenson joined the Newark Trust for Education in November 2018 as Director of Early Learning Strategy.  Rasheba is passionate about creating transformative change in our communities through social and urban policy that is deeply informed by both the tremendous assets and complex needs of young people and their families. At the Trust, Rasheba leads the organization’s efforts in creating and implementing an early learning system that comprehensively and continuously supports Newark’s children from birth until age eight.  Most recently, Rasheba worked at the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City as a Program Officer of Early Childhood and Youth. In this role, she identified and funded some of New York’s most effective interventions aimed at lifting children and youth out of poverty.

Throughout her career, she has worked across the public, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, leveraging a blend of policy and programmatic expertise to support high performing organizations that demonstrably change the trajectory of underserved youth. Rasheba started at the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum in 2004 as it partnered with the N.Y.C. Department of Education to provide leadership development to public high school students.  She then spent three years working under the Bloomberg administration to help launch its Out-of-School Time initiative.

As an Education Pioneer Fellow, Rasheba served in Mayor Cory Booker’s Office, and again as a client for her graduate thesis that focused on reducing youth violence in Newark.  In 2010, Rasheba joined Year Up, a national youth and workforce development organization, as its Director of Special Projects & Board Strategy, leading strategic leadership and board initiatives across the organization.

Rasheba earned a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor’s in both Economics and African-American Studies from Smith College.  She is married with two energetic preschool-age boys.