Board of Directors

Stephanie Peete is the Sr. Director of Workforce Development at Say Yes Buffalo, where she leads programs and strategies to create equitable opportunities for Buffalo youth entering the workforce. She also created the Employer Think Tank series, an initiative that invites WNY employers and leaders to deepen their understanding of racial equity to create more inclusive workplaces. To date, this initiative has brought more than 400 business leaders and employers together to address the systemic barriers in the Greater Buffalo region.

Stephanie earned a master’s in public administration from Hilbert College and graduated from Canisius College with a dual bachelor’s in urban studies and sociology. She currently serves on the board of directors for TechBuffalo and Open Buffalo, on the advisory board for the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women, is a co-chair for the Women of Color Summit, and volunteers on the DEI committee for the SPCA Serving Erie County. In January 2025 she was accepted into FSG’s Collective Leadership Advancing Racial Equity (CLARE) program, a national leadership accelerator designed to invest in the capacity and wellbeing of individuals leading collaborative work in their local communities (e.g., “backbone leaders”). Stephanie is also a 2023 ATHENA Young Professional finalist, a 2022 Buffalo Business First IDEA Award recipient, and a 2021 recipient of the Bar Association of Erie County’s Liberty Bell Award.

In 2022 she and her mother, Lisa Queener-Johnson, launched Second Chapter Bookstore. They don't just sell books! As a mother-daughter duo, they combine their mutual passion for Black culture and love for reading to create spaces and events that cultivate joy, community, and shared learning while centering the Black experience throughout the African diaspora.