Hi!

Nice to meet you! I'm Stefanie. 

I grew up in San Diego, California. As a teenager, I volunteered with the AIDS Foundation and Planned Parenthood, was a Candy Striper, and spent a lot of time watching and playing live music. After a quarter at UCSD studying Journalism, I decided that I needed a change of scenery and continued my studies at WWU in Bellingham. Fairhaven College allowed me to design a degree that let me study the importance of Third Spaces, community organizing, and running non-profits. During that time, I worked in an all-ages music venue, booking bands and tours, and as a literary fiction ghostwriter and copywriter: a job I kept until having kids made it too challenging to find time to write. Like a lot of people in the PNW, I came for college and never left! Can you blame me?

My husband is also a graduate of WWU and teaches middle school technology and art classes. Having our three children impassioned me further to the idea that reproductive education and choice were essential. I studied at Bastyr University in Seattle and became a childbirth educator, focused on creating safe and affirming spaces for pregnant teenagers and LGBTQIA+ people. 

In September of 2020, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, which is incurable but treatable. With my "Cancer Bestie," I created a podcast for people with cancer interested in science, research, and being a little irreverent in the face of something really scary. I also bought and renovated a small bus called the Breast Cancer Care-a-Van which donates gender inclusive breast cancer supplies to others experiencing a BC diagnosis. 

Cancer led me to find a new career and that came at Washington Vocational Services. We offer post-high school transition education to young adults ages 18-22 with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I teach healthy relationships classes and vocational skills not only to our transition students but also to students in local middle and high schools, and I feel deeply grateful to work with this population of amazing young people. As my kids have gotten older, I've found more time to write, most recently co-authoring Genuine Skagit Cooking: a project conceived by Genuine Skagit Valley and Edison small publisher, Raspberry Bow Press. For my part, I interviewed dozens of Skagit Valley farmers and food producers and crafted a history of agriculture in the Valley. 

I am a beekeeper, a maker, a ballet lover, and proudly Jewish. Mount Vernon has been my home for 13 years and I couldn't imagine living in a more vibrant, warm and dynamic community. If you see me around town, please say hello! ​