Growing up, Stephanie had many pets including her cats Jackie, Elizabeth (pictured), chickens, ducks, and farm kittens. In her early 20s, Stephanie rescued a tuxedo cat, King Louis, and a hamster, DaVinci, both of whom have now passed the rainbow bridge. Today, in addition to her childhood cat, Elizabeth, Stephanie enjoys the company of her cat, Keke, and her hamster, Ginger.
Stephanie first attended Oklahoma State University before completing her undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University where she graduated in 2020 with her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science focused in American Politics. Following her time at OSU, Stephanie obtained her Juris Doctorate from Northern Illinois University College of Law in 2024, where she most notably founded the Hellenic Bar Association and served as its president in addition to serving as president for the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. In law school, Stephanie worked as a law clerk for a private criminal defense firm in addition to working as a student attorney at the DuPage County, Illinois Office of the Public Defender where she will continue to work as an assistant public defender beginning in August 2024 while pending her admission to the Illinois Bar. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys crafting, traveling, studying French and German, playing the oboe, and working out.
Inspired by her grandma Sondra’s courage and bravery in speaking to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture about the bleak reality facing farmers during the 1985 Farm Crisis, Stephanie too hopes to speak and advocate on the national stage regarding a new era of farm crisis––the industrialization of animals in agriculture. Stephanie aims to enshrine rights for animals through the criminal code through the criminalization of the astonishing actions committed by individuals and entities that harm animals, humans, and the environment in the name of profit and power. Stephanie also hopes to enact National Animal Abuse Registry to create a uniform approach to preventing and remedying instances of animal abuse in addition to a National Pet/Animal Identification Program to aid in protecting animals under domestic violence statutes, assist in the safe return of an animal, or to help reduce/prevent the killing of animals when encountering law enforcement.