Today we’d like to introduce you to Shevann Steuben.
Hi Shevann, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a proud native of San Francisco, a city that shaped my worldview long before I had language for leadership, equity, or systems change. Growing up there meant living at the intersection of innovation and inequality, where opportunity and exclusion often coexist. From an early age, I became aware of who had access, who didn’t, and how deeply systems influence life outcomes. Those early observations continue to ground my work today.
As a first-generation college graduate, higher education was never a question of if. It was always a question of where and how. I grew up with the clear expectation that college was part of my future, supported by structured college-access and leadership development programs beginning at the age of eleven. Through organizations like First Graduate and later ScholarMatch, I gained early exposure to academic preparation, mentorship, and long-term planning. At eleven, I received my first formal leadership award, an early affirmation that leadership was not only something I practiced, but something others recognized in me.
From the age of fifteen onward, I have held a president or senior leadership role every single year. That consistency shaped how I understand responsibility and service. Over time, my leadership evolved from youth and student organizations into national governance and executive-level service, requiring fluency in bylaws, organizational strategy, and public accountability.
Today, I serve in multiple senior leadership and board roles across civil rights, civic engagement, and education. I am a National Board Member of the NAACP, Second Vice President of the NAACP Texas State Conference, and First Vice President of the NAACP Houston Branch. I also serve as Co-Advisor for the NAACP Texas Youth and College Division, where I focus on leadership development, governance training, and building sustainable pipelines for young leaders across the state. Beyond the NAACP, I serve on the Generation Vote C4 National Board and on the Board of Directors for ScholarMatch, a full-circle role that allows me to help steward access to higher education for students navigating pathways similar to my own.
Professionally, I work as a management consultant, advising organizations operating in high-accountability environments on strategy, change, and execution. My work requires translating complex challenges into actionable plans, managing diverse stakeholders, and delivering measurable outcomes across large systems. This experience continually sharpens my ability to balance vision with discipline and people-centered leadership with performance.
That same commitment to clarity and impact extends into my work in pageantry. I currently serve as Miss Black International Ambassador 2025, a role that expands my leadership into public-facing advocacy. My platform, Yet To Be, centers on leadership development, civic engagement, and expanding access for communities that are often overlooked. Pageantry, for me, is not performance for its own sake. It is a leadership platform that merges advocacy, visibility, and storytelling, allowing me to engage audiences beyond traditional civic spaces and to model leadership that is values-driven, prepared, and publicly accountable.
That same commitment to clarity and impact led me to found B RARE Consulting, where I support nonprofits, creatives, and mission-driven organizations in strengthening strategy, operations, and brand identity. My work centers on aligning purpose with execution and helping organizations move from vision to sustainable action.
Academically, I am a graduate of Baylor University, where I was initiated as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, an experience that further grounded my commitment to service, scholarship, and leadership while balancing rigorous academics and work responsibilities. I am currently an MBA candidate at Hampton University, deepening my focus on finance, strategy, and organizational decision-making.
Every chapter of my journey – my San Francisco roots, first-generation college experience, early and sustained leadership, national board service, civic advocacy, management consulting, pageantry, entrepreneurship, and graduate study – has shaped how I lead. I don’t see these paths as separate. Together, they have made me a leader who is disciplined, adaptable, and deeply committed to building systems that work for people, not just performance.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Challenges showed up early in my life, requiring maturity and discipline early on. In high school, I commuted nearly two hours each way to school while holding multiple leadership positions, playing sports, and maintaining a demanding academic schedule. My days required precision, stamina, and sacrifice, an experience that continues to shape how I manage time, energy, and responsibility today.
As a senior in high school, I tore my ACL, abruptly altering a future I had carefully built toward. I had aspirations of becoming a Division I athlete, and the injury forced me to let go of a dream I believed was within reach. Determined to keep competing, I applied to more than twenty colleges in search of viable pathways that would allow me to continue athletics.
I ultimately enrolled at Baylor University, a decision that was neither planned nor preferred at the time. I never toured Baylor and initially did not want to attend. What made it possible was access. Through First Graduate and ScholarMatch, I secured the scholarships and support necessary to enroll, transforming an uncertain option into a defining opportunity.
Financial responsibility was a constant reality throughout college. Even with scholarships in place, I worked consistently, often holding multiple jobs during the academic year and two full-time roles during the summers, all while carrying a full course load. Balancing employment with academics required discipline, adaptability, and long-term focus.
I graduated during the COVID-19 pandemic, completing my degree remotely. Without the traditional markers of transition or stability that many associate with graduation, I entered the workforce navigating uncertainty, isolation, and rapid change. I spent a year working remotely across time zones, adapting to professional expectations without the benefit of in-person community or structure. That period strengthened my independence, resilience, and ability to perform under ambiguity.
Relocating to Houston marked another transition. I am still learning the city including its culture, civic landscape, and political dynamics. Leading in Houston has required humility, listening, and intentional relationship-building. I approach this chapter with gratitude, always mindful that service is a privilege, not an entitlement. Each role I hold here is rooted in respect for community and a commitment to learn before leading.
Across every stage, the challenge has never been whether I could endure, but how I could grow with intention. Injury, financial pressure, uncertainty, and transition did not deter me; they refined my ability to adapt, recalibrate, and remain grounded in purpose.
These experiences taught me that leadership is not shaped by ease or certainty, but by consistency, resilience, and a willingness to serve wherever you are planted.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work sits at the intersection of change, strategy, and people. I am a change practitioner specializing in communications, learning, and training. Across every role I hold, my focus is helping organizations and communities navigate transformation in ways that are clear, inclusive, and sustainable.
Professionally, I work as a management consultant, supporting large, complex organizations through periods of change. I design and deliver change strategies that translate vision into action, particularly through strategic communication, stakeholder engagement, and learning experiences that build real capability. I am known for taking complex, ambiguous challenges and turning them into structured messages, training programs, and execution plans that people can actually use.
In nonprofit and civic spaces, my work centers on governance, innovation, and organizational effectiveness. Through my national, state, and local leadership roles, particularly within civil rights and civic engagement organizations, I support mission delivery, political strategy, and institutional stewardship. I intentionally step in where momentum and alignment are critical, asking hard questions and pushing efficient, mission-aligned approaches that allow organizations to evolve while staying grounded in their core purpose.
That same approach carries into my role as Miss Black International Ambassador 2025. I use pageantry as a leadership and advocacy platform rather than a performance space. My platform, Yet To Be, focuses on leadership development, civic engagement, and expanding access. Through this work, I merge visibility with substance, using storytelling, strategic communication, and education to reach audiences beyond traditional advocacy channels.
I am also the founder of B RARE Consulting, where I support nonprofits, creatives, and mission-driven organizations in clarifying their messaging, strengthening operations, and building learning-driven approaches to growth. My work often includes brand strategy, communications planning, and training frameworks that help organizations move from intention to execution.
What I am most proud of is my ability to create clarity and momentum during moments of change. Whether I am leading communications, designing training programs, or supporting governance decisions, my goal is to ensure people understand the why, the how, and their role in moving forward.
What sets me apart is my ability to bridge people and systems. I combine the discipline of consulting, the accountability of governance, and the visibility of public leadership with a deep understanding of how people learn, adapt, and engage. That combination allows me to lead change in a way that is both human and results-driven, ensuring impact that lasts beyond a single initiative or moment.
What’s next?
In the near term, I am committed to deepening my impact as a change practitioner by continuing to lead transformation work that strengthens how organizations communicate, train, and execute. I am especially drawn to work that blends strategy with learning, ensuring people are not only informed during periods of change, but truly equipped to lead through them.
I am also focused on expanding B RARE Consulting with intention. My goal is to help organizations become self-sufficient, equipped with the systems, skills, and clarity they need to operate independently and effectively. At the same time, I envision B RARE as a trusted strategic partner organizations can return to for support, training, and guidance during moments of growth or transition. This model allows organizations to scale with confidence without becoming dependent.
A central priority in my future work is leadership continuity. At twenty-seven, I have spent much of my leadership journey as the youngest person at the table. While that experience has shaped me, my ambition has never been to simply hold that distinction. My focus is on ensuring leadership does not stop with one voice, but multiplies into many. I am committed to creating intentional pathways for emerging leaders, particularly from my generation, whose insight and lived experience can strengthen institutions and help shape the future.
In my role as Miss Black International Ambassador 2025, I am excited to expand the reach of my platform, Yet To Be. This includes initiatives like the Ignite Conference, designed to help young children begin developing leadership skills early. This work reflects my belief that leadership development should start long before titles and positions, and that early exposure builds confidence, agency, and civic responsibility.
Academically, completing my MBA at Hampton University is an important milestone, and I intend to pursue a doctoral degree focused on nonprofit and mission-driven organizations. My goal is to contribute research that strengthens organizational effectiveness through improved structures and systems, supports cultural evolution, and advances intergenerational succession and integration planning. I want my research to be practical, actionable, and directly beneficial to the organizations and communities I serve.
Long term, I see myself in senior leadership roles where I can steward institutions, guide organizations through complex change, and help shape systems that are effective, equitable, and enduring.
Ultimately, the future I am building is rooted in alignment and longevity. Every next step is intentional, guided by service, and focused on ensuring the work outlives individual roles or titles. I am committed to helping organizations, leaders, and communities grow in ways that are effective, inclusive, and built to endure.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thembiapageant.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mbiapageant/?hl=en; https://www.instagram.com/mbiamiss/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MBIAPageant/?_rdr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shevann-steuben/
- Youtube: https://www.instagram.com/mbiapageant/?hl=en
Image Credits
Pageant Photos: Rodgers Polk Photography
