Stephanie is the president and founder of The Wrenwood Group, LLC, a Washington, D.C. government relations firm. An attorney with decades of legislative and executive branch experience, Stephanie served as assistant secretary of education from 2005 until 2009. In that position, she was the secretary of education’s primary adviser on civil rights issues and responsible for the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), a 600-person division in the U.S. Department of Education with 12 offices located across the United States.

Prior to serving in the executive branch, Stephanie ended her distinguished 25-year career on Capitol Hill. A veteran political strategist, Monroe served as chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions under the chairmanship of Senator Judd Gregg. For more than a decade, she also served as chief counsel and staff director for the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families under the chairmanship of Senator Dan Coats.

With a particular emphasis on domestic policy issues involving health, education, child welfare, individual empowerment and community services, Stephanie has helped develop and navigate dozens of bills from policy inception to law. Examples of legislation she has contributed to include the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, the Head Start Act, No Child Left Behind, the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, the Higher Education Act, the Workforce Development and Workforce Investment Act, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, Temporary Assistance for Needy Family Act, Charitable Choice, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act, Individual Development Accounts, the Community Services Block Grant and the Low Income Housing and Energy Assistance Act.

A native of Baltimore, Stephanie received her Bachelor of Arts degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Baltimore.