Stephanie Ung

Stephanie Ung is a U.S. American woman with Cambodian, Filipinx, and Chinese heritage. She was born and raised in the sunny suburbs of southern California (Chumash territory) and currently resides in Coast Salish land (Suquamish and Duwamish territories) that is known to many settlers today as Seattle, Washington. Stephanie most recently served as a Naturalist for Seattle Parks and Recreation, focused on community-based environmental education in the southeast region of Seattle. She currently serves as a Program Manager for the University of Washington GEAR UP Achievers, a college access program focused on students of color, low-income students, and/or first-generation college students. As an environmental educator, she knows that education is an important ingredient in the recipe for change on a local and global level. Stephanie serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee for the YMCA Earth Service Corps' Advisory Board and is an active member of the Environmental Professionals of Color-Seattle. Stephanie enrolled in the inaugural cohort of IslandWood and Antioch University-Seattle's Urban Environmental Education Graduate Program, in which she achieved a Master's degree in Urban Environmental Education (M.A.Ed). Stephanie finds solace in catching up with her family, making and eating delicious food with friends, and attending community events to stay engaged and connected. 

About Stephanie‘s ee360 Community Action Project

Sadhu for Green is an initiative created and led by Fellow Stephanie Ung and a Khmer community leader and former Buddhist monk, Prenz Sa-Ngoun. It is rooted in environmental education created for and led by members of the Khmer community, to bridge generations of the Khmer diaspora through education and connections to the environment we live in. Stephanie and her team facilitate workshops and coordinate environmental learning experiences to raise awareness of environmental systems impacting the Khmer community. Stephanie has worked closely with Prenz and other community leaders to host workshops at a local Khmer Buddhist temple called Wat Khemarak Pothiram, and have attracted a wide range of participants by combining workshop topics with meditation sessions and Dhamma talks. The Khmer community celebrated Sadhu for Green by focusing on environmental health at the 2nd Annual Khmer Community Potluck. Stephanie has invested ee360 mini-grant funds in community leaders who are enthusiastically carrying Sadhu for Green’s work forward with her support. Sadhu for Green will continue to grow and morph as more community leaders emerge and take the project in new directions.