Samuel A. Stephens, Ph.D.

Sam Stephens is a Trenton resident of nearly 40 years and has been on the Trent House Association board of trustees since 2013. He currently serves as treasurer, chair of the Finance/Development Committee, and member of the Buildings/Grounds, Marketing, and Program Committees.  With a background in sociology, he has led the Trent House Association’s work on expanding its interpretation of slavery, native peoples, immigration, domestic service, and urban development in Trenton’s history. As the Association’s treasurer he is responsible for preparation of grant applications and oversight of grant-funded projects.

While mostly retired, Stephens continues as Vice President of CAPD (the Center for Assessment and Policy Development), where he has worked since 1991 conducting research, evaluation and policy analysis projects in the field of human development and social and education services. He has consulted with foundations, non-profit organizations, community collaboratives, and local and state government agencies on research and evaluation, program development, and strategic facilitation projects. From 2014 to 2019 he also directed the federally funded Research Connections project at the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, which compiled and disseminated research on early care and education issues via its website and social media. Prior to joining CAPD in 1991, he was senior survey researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, responsible for designing and directing large-scale data collection and evaluation projects.

Stephens holds a Bachelors in sociology from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and Masters and Doctorate degrees in sociology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

He and his husband have four adult children and five grandchildren ranging in age from 6 months to 10 years.