Elizabeth Stevenson
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Elizabeth (“Liz”) Margaret Stevenson (born December 25, 1981) is a development associate at Urban Pathways, a “not-for-profit community-based human services agency pioneering the use of basic and therapeutic services to respond to the problems of the homeless.” [1]
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[edit] Early Years
Stevenson was born in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, to John and Mary Stevenson. Stevenson’s father was born outside of Utica, New York, and is now a professor of psychology at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island. Stevenson’s mother, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston, was born and raised in New York City. Stevenson was given the name Elizabeth after two great-aunts: Mary’s Aunt Etty, and John’s Aunt Elizabeth. Stevenson’s middle name, Margaret, was given in honor of her father’s stepmother.
At five years old, Stevenson moved to Brookline, Massachusetts, where she would spend the rest of her childhood and adolescence. A product of the Brookline public school system, Elizabeth graduated from the John Daniel Runkle School in 1996 with the title of “Miss Runkle,” an honor given to the student embodying the spirit of the K-8 school. Some of Stevenson’s other elementary school distinctions include “Class Diplomat,” and “Dance Captain”; she was also admitted into the school’s “Gifted and Talented” program. Particularly notable was Stevenson’s involvement in the Freelance Players, the Boston-based young peoples’ theater and performance troupe. As a Freelance Player, Stevenson performed alongside Eliza Bent, David Strick, Ian Tomlinson and other luminaries of children’s theater.
[edit] Brookline High School
Stevenson continued her involvement with the performing arts during her four years at Brookline High School, an institution consistently rated among Boston Magazine's Top Ten public high schools in Massachusetts [2]. She starred in such plays as Under Milkwood, Silver Scream, Swimming Upstream, and Naked: Nine Girls Exposed, and she made her directorial debut in 2000 with her production of The Most Massive Woman Wins. Stevenson was well regarded by her classmates, and she graduated Brookline High as a member of the National Honors Society. She looks back at her high school years with a measure of fondness, remembering the time as a “generally positive experience.”
[edit] College Years
Elizabeth Stevenson left Brookline in 2000 for New York City to attend the Gallatin School at New York University. While Stevenson’s college experience was “academically stimulating,” she has also noted that the impersonal nature of New York University and of city life could at times be alienating or humbling. Stevenson also recalled a considerable amount of time spent at NYU “sitting in dorm rooms talking to friends about nothing.” One high point of Stevenson’s undergraduate career was a semester spent studying in Prague, Czech Republic in the spring of 2003, the period in which Vaclav Havel left office. Stevenson’s intellectual experience at Gallatin culminated in a two-hour senior year colloquium where she discussed with her professors the question of individual agency in the context of different socioeconomic environments.
Stevenson’s interests in drama and dance figured less prominently in her college career than they had during elementary- and high school, giving way to other forms of intellectual and professional pursuits. These included internships at Johnson-Liff Casting Associates (Fall 2000), ABC’s 20/20 news magazine (Fall 2001, assisted with coverage of the events of September 11), the Boston-based organization “Give Us Your Poor,” (Summers 2002 and 2003), and the Carol Mann Literary Agency (Fall 2003). During senior year at NYU, Stevenson served on the editorial board of the Gallatin Literary Review. Stevenson volunteered for Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate Campaign and worked for MASSPIRG, the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group in 2001; she maintains an abiding interest in social justice and left-wing politics to this day.
[edit] Professional Life
Following her graduation from New York University, Stevenson took a position as Executive Assistant at the Grand Central Neighborhood Social Services Corporation, a drop-in center for the homeless in New York City. Since December 2005, she has been the development associate for Urban Pathways. Today, Stevenson lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, with roommates Maia Armaleo, Jill Gladstone, and Sanjeev Sanampudi. She is applying to social work schools in New York City and hopes to continue working with underserved populations as a clinical social worker. Elizabeth has one brother, Seth Stevenson, a writer for Slate Magazine, and two stepsisters from her father’s second marriage, Laura and Meredith Mattison, who are 25 and 30, respectively.
[edit] Trivia
- Stevenson’s favorite food is a bagel with cream cheese, lox and a slice of tomato; her favorite flavor of ice cream is coffee heath bar crunch.
- Stevenson’s favorite drink is Jack and Ginger.
- Stevenson’s favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.
- Stevenson characterizes herself as something of a pop-culture fiend, enjoying teen dramas, “crappy MTV,” and reality television; growing up she watched Murphy Brown, Moonlighting, and Beverly Hills 90210. Among her favorite movies are Goodfellas, You Can Count on Me, Clueless and Rosemary’s Baby; favorite books include Common Ground by J. Anthony Lukas and Howard’s End by E.M. Forster.
- Stevenson coined the original phrase "panda-ing around," which connotes a playful, but languid passing of time.
[edit] Quotations
“You were probably too young to remember.” – Stevenson in Swimming Upstream, 1999
“My legacy will be my interpersonal relationships. […] I think that when I die, lots of people will come to my funeral. Unless I outlive them all.” – Personal Interview, December 2006
