An educator and organizational leader whose career spans classroom teaching, district administration, and nonprofit leadership, Justin Stephens, M. Ed., partners with districts and national organizations to build leadership capacity and equip educators with the tools to form authentic academic partnerships with families. As a founding partner of Coco, he led the design of family engagement programming that has reached thousands of teachers nationwide, strengthening the capacity of school leaders to align instructional priorities with meaningful family partnership.

Prior to co founding Coaction Collective, Justin served as Senior Director of Leadership Development and Capacity Building at the Flamboyan Foundation and as Director of Strategic Consulting with Leading Educators. He began his career in Baltimore City Schools as a middle school teacher and later held instructional and administrative roles across the district.

Earlier in life, Justin withdrew from high school before ultimately pursuing higher education, an experience that continues to shape his belief that opportunity should not be limited by circumstance or timing. Coupled with his experience as both a middle school teacher and a foster parent, he brings a grounded understanding of how people learn, grow, and succeed. His lived and professional experiences inform his commitment to principled, inclusive leadership and his approach to combining analytical rigor with deep relational trust to drive meaningful change.

Notable achievements across Justin’s career center on measurable outcomes for students. As a middle school teacher in a Title I school, more than 90 percent of his students met or exceeded state standards on state assessments, earning him recognition as Rosemont Elementary Middle School’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the CEO of Baltimore City Schools. He later directed a teacher leader fellowship in Washington, DC, where 76 percent of students in fellows’ classrooms achieved at least one year of academic growth and 50 percent achieved at least 1.5 years of growth, underscoring his sustained focus on accelerating achievement for young people.

Justin earned a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Maryland Minority and Urban Education program and a bachelor’s degree in Middle Grades Education from Northern Kentucky University. He also holds certificates in Ethical and Inclusive Leadership and in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida.

Justin lives in Washington, DC, with his husband. He brings the same curiosity and adventurous spirit to his personal life that he brings to his leadership. When he is not on the road with his Coco colleagues, he spends his free time pursuing high adrenaline pursuits, from storm chasing and skydiving to plunging into the ocean alongside great white sharks.