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FOUNDER · SJB EXPRESSIONS
Dr. Stéphanie Jean-Baptiste is a sociologist, educator, public speaker, community organizer, and equity strategist who approaches her work by creating infrastructures that allows for diversity to be implemented and sustained.
βShe holds a PhD in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago, where her research examined power dynamics between international NGOs and the communities they serve. She has taught at three universities, educated 100+ students, and co-founded The Ivy Chicago, a BIPOC-led grassroots organization for which she raised over $10,000 and facilitated 10+ workshops.
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She has spoken at the University of Illinois Chicago, the Haitian American Museum of Chicago, and the Leather Archives & Museum. She has built spaces, strategized on how to fund them, and created inclusive environments dedicated to education and autonomy.
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Equity work grounded in structural analysis and lived experience.
Dr. Jean-Baptiste was born and raised in Haiti where she completed her primary education at L' Institution to Sacre-Coeur. de Turgeau; later earning her masters and PhD of Sociology at Loyola University Chicago. She dedicated her academic career to spreading the importance and significance of Haitian history on the global scale. Her focus is to elevate the voices of indigenous and marginalized communities in their fights for respect, rights, and continued cultural expression. She currently serves as a Haitian Kreyol Instructor where she helps first and second generation immigrants reconnect with their culture and language.
PhD Sociology · Loyola University Chicago, 2024
Educator · Public Speaker · Strategist · Cultural Advocate
Dr. Stéphanie Jean-Baptiste
Flagship Roles
A decade of university teaching across Loyola University Chicago, Northern Illinois University, Northeastern Illinois University, & grassroots education at The Ivy Chicago.
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR & MENTOR · 2016 – 2026
Loyola University of Chicago
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY · DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CRIMINOLOGY · CHICAGO, IL
A decade of Dr. Jean-Baptiste's career was spent shaping critical thinkers at Loyola University Chicago, the same institution where she earned her PhD From 2016 to 2024. She designed and taught undergraduate courses in sociology, criminology, and global studies to classes of up to 70 students, across in-person and fully online formats. She applied Freirean principles to center student voice and critical consciousness, used andragogical frameworks to honor the lived experiences adult learners bring into the room, and implemented the TILT (Transparent Assignment Design) framework to make purpose, task, and success criteria explicit; which reduced anxiety and expanded equitable access across diverse learner backgrounds. Her courses were built around social justice, authentic intellectual exchange, and student agency. She mentored 400+ students across academic and personal pathways, with advisees going on to law school, doctoral programs, and national recognition including an Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship. Her teaching was recognized institutionally with the Distinguished Graduate Instructor Award in 2018 and the Teaching Scholar Fellowship in 2020–2021.
Classes About Society:
SOCL 101 Introduction to Sociology
SOCL 122 Race & Ethnicity in Society
SOCL 230 Professions and Society
ANTH 250 Black Studies (Remote)
SOCL 265 Globalization and Societyβ
Classes About Social Justice:
CJC 372 Race, Crime, & the Criminal Justice System
SOCL 250 Inequality in Society
SOCL 252 Global Inequalities
SOCL 310 Social Movements
LEAD FUNDRAISER AND EDUCATOR · 2023 – 2025
The Ivy Chicago
BIPOC - LED GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION FOR SEXUAL HEALTH EDUCATION, RIGHTS & EMPOWERMENT · CHICAGO, IL
Before advising organizations on how to build community infrastructure, Dr. Jean-Baptiste helped build The Ivy Chicago, a BIPOC-led rope studio turned grassroots organization created in August 2023. The focus was on advancing sexual health education, rights, and empowerment for communities that don't have access to or knowledge of the resources needed to navigate their sexual expression safely. As Co-Program Coordinator, she led fundraising, workshop development, and marketing.β The Ivy Chicago ran for two years and built a sustained community in Chicago's BIPOC sexual health education spaces. It was retired in August 2025 to protect the safety of attendees in the midst of the ICE occupation in Chicago.
Key Contributions:
Grassroots Fundraising: $10,000 Raised
Led online crowdfunding campaigns and donor outreach. Wrote compelling campaign narratives that increased repeat contributions.
Social Media Management
Designed and implemented social media marketing strategies; leading to 2.8K+ followers on Instagram, increased donations, and consistent event attendance.
10+ Culturally Responsive Workshops and Events
Developed and facilitated over 10 workshops using culturally responsive frameworks to engage underinformed communities in Chicago.
Some workshops held at The Ivy:
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βBoundaries: How to Say No
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Community Care as Self Care
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Taking Care of You & Your Tools
Speeches & Experiences
Dr. Jean-Baptiste is an experienced public speaker and keynote presenter with a focus on post-colonial theory, BIPOC community-building, sexual health education, and Haitian diaspora culture.
A decade of university teaching across Loyola University Chicago, Northern Illinois University, Northeastern Illinois University, & The Ivy Chicago. Classes were taught in person and fully online. TILT framework, andragogy, and Freirean pedagogy as lived practice.
– Educating in a BIPOC space
– Boundaries : How to Say No
- Community Care as a Form of Self Care
– Taking Care of your Tools
Building BIPOC Spaces Through a Social Justice Framework • University of Illinois Chicago, Department of Psychology
Keynote Speaker οΈ±Chicago, IL, USA οΈ±2025
βKonbit • Haitian American Museum of Chicago
Workshop Facilitator & Keynote SpeakerοΈ± Chicago, IL, USAοΈ±2024
Black Women in Kink Symposium • Leather Archives & Museum, Chicago
Guest Speaker οΈ±Chicago, IL, USA οΈ±2024
βSe Mèt Ko ki Veye Ko: Haitians' Attitudes Toward White Immigrants • Caribbean Studies Association Conference
Guest SpeakerοΈ±Santa Marta, ColombiaοΈ±2019
Reversing the Gaze: How Haitian Citizens Process the Presence of White Immigrants • Haitian Studies Association
Guest SpeakerοΈ±Port-au-Prince, HaitiοΈ±2018
Redefining Borders • Global Studies Association, Northampton University
Guest SpeakerοΈ±Northampton, UKοΈ±2017βββ
Education
2024
Ph.D., Sociology
Loyola University Chicago
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Dissertation: Ou Pa Moun Bò Isit: Haitian Locals' Attitudes Toward NGO Representatives
2016
M.A., Sociology
Loyola University Chicago
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Thesis: Media Representation of Haitians in Mainstream and African American Newspapers
2013
B.A., Sociology
βCity University of New-York, Queens College
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Cum Laude
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Fellowships & Funding
2022 - 2023
Arthur J. Schmitt Leadership Fellowship
Loyola University of Chicago
2020 - 2021
Teaching Scholar Fellowship
Loyola University of Chicago
2019 - 2020
Graduate Research Assistantship
National Science Foundation
2018
Distinguished Graduate Instructor Award
Loyola University of Chicago
2013-2016
Graduate Fellowship
Loyola University of Chicago
2012-2013
Pipeline Fellow
City University of New York, Queens College
2012
South Africa Study Abroad Scholarship
Mellon Mays · City University of New York, Queens College
2010-2012
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
City University of New York, Queens College
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