Tambra Raye Stevenson | |
|---|---|
| Stevenson in 2021 | |
| Born | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Education | Carl Albert High School |
| Alma mater | Oklahoma State University (BS) Tufts University School of Medicine (MPH) |
| Occupations | Nutritionist, public speaker, policy advisor, food justice activist |
| Known for | Founder/CEO of WANDA and NativSol Kitchen |
Tambra Raye Stevenson is an African-American entrepreneur, nutrition educator, public speaker, policy advisor, inventor, and food justice activist. Stevenson founded WANDA (Women, Advancing, Dietetics and Nutrition) [1] [2] [3] and NativSol Kitchen. [4] She is a Nutrition and Health Co-chair for the DC Food Policy Council, [5] a Committee member for the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board, [6] and was named National Geographic Traveler of the Year in 2014. [7] She is co-chair of Bringing It To The Table. [8]
Stevenson was raised in a multi-faith family. [9]
Stevenson earned a BS degree in nutritional science and minored in Spanish at Oklahoma State University in 2002. During that same year, she completed a Study Abroad Program in Community Health and Spanish Immersion at Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Santiago, Dominican Republic as a Boren National Security Scholar. [10]
In 2004, she continued her education at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts achieving an MPH in health communications. [11] [12] Stevenson, through the University of the District of Columbia, Washington D.C., began a Didactic Program in Dietetics in 2012, [13] and completed a Dietetic Internship in 2014.
Currently, she is completing a Ph.D. program at American University School of Communication in Washington, DC. [14]
She is known for challenging Westernized diets that cause negative outcomes for women and girls of the African diaspora. [9] Through nutritional education, advocacy, government partnerships and cultural awareness, she focuses on building healthy, sustainable communities, foods, self care, and support for improved health outcomes. [7]
She was named a Change Maker, by Clean Eating magazine, [15] and 2021 UCS Science Defender, by the Union of Concerned Scientists. [16]
She began a career in public service at the Minority Business Development Agency, US Department of Commerce; including the first Washington, D.C. Mayor's Office on Women's Policy and Initiatives. [11]
In 2016, she organized “Black Women Getting in Formation." [17]
In 2020, she organized WANDA Academy. [18] She is the author of a series of bilingual children's books on nutrition called Where's WANDA? which are illustrated by Nigerian artists. [19] [20]
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack selected Stevenson to serve on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board, 2021. [21] In 2022, she advocated for and authored a "Food Bill of Rights". [22] [23] In 2023 she appeared at the National Food Policy Conference . [24]
She is representative to the African Nutrition Society. [25]