11/22/2022
Continuing to welcome and highlight our new board members! Meet Bianca Stepanyan. Bianca was born in Mexico and grew up as a migrant worker in the United States. She graduated from Michigan State University (MSU) with a degree in psychology. She is passionate about social justice and is an advocate for ending violence against women. In undergrad, she volunteered as a crisis line worker and as an in-person medical advocate at the former Michigan State University Sexual Assault Program (MSU SAP). Upon graduation, she worked with undocumented and unaccompanied minors in the juvenile justice system. Still, her life’s calling and devotion to helping others had her returning to work as a staff member for the MSU SAP. For over five years, she recruited and trained program volunteers and campus and community partners in crisis intervention, provided crisis counseling, and provided advocacy for the university community. Her final advocacy position was in the Michigan State University Office of Institutional Equity. She was the Accommodation Specialist and worked to ensure students, faculty, and staff who experienced discrimination and sexual violence had the tools necessary to succeed.
While advocacy was fulfilling, she desired to master her craft and enrolled in the MSU Clinical Social Work graduate program. COVID interrupted her coursework, and she is currently enjoying being a stay-at-home madre to her three sons, one dog, and one cat. She plans to return to MSU to complete her degree and obtain her Master’s in Social Work.
