Stephanie Rivera-Kumar

Stephanie Rivera-Kumar is a City and Regional Planning doctoral candidate and Fontaine Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. Her research explores the intersection of ethnic enclaves, urban economic development, and immigrant entrepreneurship, with a focus on Latinx business owners and operators in Philadelphia. She integrates spatial analysis, economic development metrics, quantitative ethnography, and qualitative insights to examine how enclaves influence business survival and transnationalism. Drawing from city planning, sociology, migration studies, and geography, her work challenges conventional definitions of ethnic enclaves and offers a more nuanced understanding of their role in contemporary cities.

Stephanie’s research has received funding from the Penn Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Race, and Immigration, the Penn Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies, and the Penn Institute for Urban Research. She has served as a teaching fellow for the National Education Equity Lab and the Center for Social Impact Strategy and as a research assistant for the Center for Guaranteed Income Research. She was also selected as a Perry World House Graduate Associate in 2021 and 2022.

Before beginning her doctoral studies, Stephanie worked as a nonprofit professional and social impact strategist for over a decade. She currently serves as Treasurer of the University of Pennsylvania Association of Alumnae and as a board member of Studio Ludo. Previously, she co-chaired the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (2021–2024) and the Nonprofit Leadership Alumni Association at Penn’s School of Social Policy and Practice (2021–2023).

At Penn, Stephanie has taught across multiple programs. She is a lecturer in the Nonprofit Leadership and Master of Science in Social Policy programs at the School of Social Policy and Practice and has previously taught Urban Redevelopment (undergraduate) and co-instructed the Undergraduate Urban Research Colloquium.

Stephanie holds a Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, a Master of Public Administration in International Administration and Development from the University of Texas at Arlington, and professional certificates in Diversity and Inclusion (Cornell University), Organizational Leadership (Wharton and the School of Social Policy and Practice), and Professional Fundraising (Boston University). She has extensive experience developing initiatives that enhance quality of life for diverse populations and managing over $50 million in grant funding from federal, state, and private sources.

Stephanie’s dedication to social justice, immigrant advocacy, and data-driven urban policy, has earned her numerous accolades, including:

• 2024 – Penn School of Social Policy & Practice Hall of Fame Inductee
• 2023 – Penn-Birmingham Transatlantic Fellow
• 2022 – Finalist, Greater Philadelphia Social Innovations Awards
• 2021 – AL DÍA 40 Under Forty Honoree
• 2019 – University of Pennsylvania Excellence in Social Impact Award

Selected Publications

Ha, Y., McDonald, N., Hersh, S., Fenniri, S., Hillier, A., & Cannuscio, C. (2021). Using Informational Murals and Handwashing Stations to Increase Access to Sanitation among People Experiencing Homelessness during the COVID-19 Pandemic. American Journal of Public Health. no. (): pp. e1-e3. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305961

Rivera-Kumar, S., Zambrano, A., Barany, A. (2023). Envisioning Latinx Narratives: Exploring Mexican and Honduran Immigrant Perspectives Using Epistemic Networks by Geospatial Location. In: Arastoopour Irgens, G., Knight, S. (eds) Advances in Quantitative Ethnography. ICQE 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1895. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47014-1_21