Page 30 - DistWomenMS_2025

Kristen was born in Jackson, Mississippi to Harry and Janet Bowell, of Madison, Mississippi. She is married to Matthew Stephenson, and they have one daughter, Nora, a son, and expecting in July. They have been Jackson residents for 12 years, and proud members of the Fondren community.
Kristen attended Madison County Schools throughout her adolescence and teenage years, graduating from Madison Central High School in 2008. From there, she attended the University of Mississippi, pursuing degrees in public policy and political science. While attending Ole Miss, she studied abroad in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, learning about civil rights and apartheid at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. After graduating from Ole Miss, she worked at a Ridgeland-based nonprofit group that provided afterschool and weekend educational support for students in Jackson Public Schools.
There, she oversaw AmeriCorps volunteers who acted as peer-educators for middle and high school students. Through this work, she found her calling, which is education. Kristen pursued her educator license and went to work as a social studies teacher at Madison Central high school in 2015. This is her tenth year in education, teaching AP US Government and Politics.
In 2020, some of her students came to her with an idea to start a Women’s Empowerment Club, a club for girls of all backgrounds to gather, learn, and grow. Some of the club projects include self-defense classes, clothing drives for the local battered women’s shelter, workshops on practical skills, like changing a tire, along with social gatherings, such as our annual Galentines Day and Galloween parties. While she act as sponsor, this club thrives because of the extraordinary girls who lead and embody its mission, and it’s an honor for her to work with them year after year.
Kristen Stephenson, a teacher who is teaching and inspiring generations. We salute you.
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