Stephen Matthews, MPH
Stephen Matthews holds a master's degree in public health from Columbia University with a certificate in health policy analysis. In 2021, Stephen was awarded a Public Health Fellowship wherein he explored behavioral and mental healthcare disparities amongst Black and brown youth and sought out best practices for judicial intervention and civic engagement for at-risk youth. He also collaborated with Columbia University's Center for Justice on community-based and -led restorative justice ventures. In 2022, he sat on the DOHMH Public Health Fellowship Advisory Committee and contributed to the development of a fellowship program specifically geared towards creating opportunities for systems-impacted folks seeking to enter the public health field. Himself systems-impacted, Stephen either volunteered or worked as an HIV/AIDS peer-educator and -counselor throughout his two and a half decades of incarceration. This culminated in his directorship of Prisoners for AIDS Counseling and Education (PACE) at Fishkill Correctional Facility. PACE is the country's oldest, most successful HIV/AIDS and health-awareness program run by prisoners for prisoners. As PACE's director, he reconstructed and oversaw the expansion of health education courses and seminars offered by PACE, re-developed PACE's peer-to-peer counseling components, and established community-based networks of support for infected prisoners transitioning back home to their families and communities. Stephen has carried his experience and academic training to Vera Institute of Justice in the Restoring Promise Initiative where he is a Senior Program Associate helping to disrupt the tempo of mass incarceration.
