Stephanie Reed

Stephanie Reed, Executive Director and Founder of the Aspire2Higher movement is a mother of three and a higher education professional with over 15 years of experience. Stephanie began her higher education journey by earning a Master’s degree, specializing in Higher Education Administration from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. From there, her higher education journey took her to The University of Georgia, serving as a career counselor for the Terry College of Business. Stephanie’s career in higher education has since been in several small private universities as well as a public midsize research institution. As Stephanie garnered the respect and engagement of students of a variety of backgrounds and experiences, she began to serve as an advisor to organizations such as the Black student union, LGBTQ+ PRIDE student organizations, and other multicultural student associations. This led to a pivot in her career from career counseling to becoming Director of Student Diversity Initiatives for Cabrini University in her hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Serving in this role for 6 years equipped Stephanie with subject matter expertise in diversity, equity & inclusion. Stephanie has also worked for a Fortune 500 company where she spent time as a corporate sales manager for Philip Morris International, the largest manufacturer of cigarettes, smoke-free products and associated electronic devices. More recently, Stephanie has been leading diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives for a local municipality in North Carolina.

Stephanie’s passions though are making colleges/universities and other organizations more equity-minded and inclusive; creating programs & curricula centered around the intersectional race-conscious engaged scholarship. Stephanie also cares deeply about youth empowerment and does work focusing on building high “career esteem “ and “career resiliency”. As Stephanie worked with more and more students in the north and southeastern regions, she began to more specifically, help young people recognize their inherent abilities to be leaders and scholars.

Over the course of her career in higher education, students and young professionals often asked if it was possible to have a career that was both personally and professionally fulfilling. This led Stephanie to begin her entrepreneurial pursuits and through the work of Aspire2Higher, Stephanie demonstrates that YES YOU CAN! Stephanie created Aspire2Higher Personal & Professional Development Services, Inc., which is an educational consulting company with a variety of programs and services. Currently, Stephanie serves as Executive Director of Aspire2Higher, based in Raleigh NC. Stephanie’s current work taps into her experience in sales, her career counseling abilities as well as her knowledge and expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion. The A2H company and movement were established to help people manifest their dreams into professional realities with the Elements A2H. She enjoys working for herself, and with her family, encouraging excellence, inclusive leadership, and engaged scholarship in communities all over the country.