Chester Stevens

Chester Stevens is a retired engineer from the IBM Corporation.
He attended LSU in Chemical Engineering. While there, he played in the marching band as well as the concert band. He later attended Southern University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
He was recruited by the IBM Corporation in Computer Design and Development. While there, he taught other engineers and received awards and patents. He pursued a Master in Engineering Management at Santa Clara University.
Chester was a founder and President of the African-American Parent Coalition. He was appointed Commissioner of Education for the city of Hercules, California. He composed parent and student seminars that addressed the Achievement Gap. He challenged the use of the book Huckleberry Finn in schools, debating the ACLU at Berkeley University on that topic.
He was solicited by the Urban League to lecture at a predominantly Black college. After his retirement, he began teaching. He taught K-12 and an honors program at Stanford University. Since then, he has become a published author and a featured jazz musician.
He is currently designing new ways of teaching and learning and helping education evolve.
2026 CHANGEMAKERS
Taylor Andrus
Alexis Bacque’
Dustin Bonanno
Heather Bourgeois
Kris Cangelosi
Breea Carter
Paula Dawson
Darian Graivshark
Arthur Gremillion
Juan Guevara Pinto
Ceasar Hendricks
Courtney Highshaw
Kristi Hollins
Andreka “Lynn” Howard
Timothy Johnson
Melissa Montgomery
Betty Mujica-Milano
Allie Polansky
LaKeitha Poole
Antonio Richardson
Kaia Simmons
Mary Ann Sternberg
Chester Stevens
Tyrus Thomas
Christian Vige’
Kiara Whitfield
Cate Willis Richard
Ashle’ Young
