BIOGRAPHY

July 25, 2017

Stephanie Chang

State Representative, District 6 – Detroit, Ecorse, River Rouge

http://housedems.com/state-rep-stephanie-chang-biography

State Representative Stephanie Chang is serving her second term representing Michigan’s 6th House District, which comprises the cities of Ecorse and River Rouge and part of the city of Detroit.

Chang is the Minority Vice-Chair of the House Committee on Law and Justice and serves on the House Committees on Education Reform and Natural Resources. Much of her legislative work is focused on air quality, affordable and safe drinking water, education and criminal justice reforms. She is the chair of the Progressive Women’s Caucus, a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Legislative Caucus, and a member of the Detroit Caucus, Michigan Democratic Latino Legislative Caucus and Michigan Legislative Black Caucus. She also serves on the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Local Government Advisory Committee, which provides advice and recommendations to the EPA administrator to help develop strong partnerships with local governments to deliver environmental services and programs. Chang also focuses much of her work with residents in the district, ranging from saving homes from tax foreclosure to hosting a community baby shower for low-income pregnant women.

Before serving in the Legislature, Chang worked as a community organizer in Detroit for nearly a decade. She served as the state director for NextGen Climate Michigan, the alumni engagement and evaluation coordinator for the Center for Progressive Leadership in Michigan, the community engagement coordinator for the James and Grace Lee Boggs School, the deputy director for the Campaign for Justice, an organizer for Michigan United/One United Michigan and as an assistant to Grace Lee Boggs. She is a co-founder and past president of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote-Michigan and served as a mentor with the Detroit Asian Youth Project.

Chang was raised in Canton and is the daughter of parents who emigrated from Taiwan to pursue greater opportunities. Chang is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degrees in public policy and in social work. Chang and her husband, Sean Gray, live in Detroit and are the parents of a young daughter.