Founding Chair, GEEARS (Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students)
Blank has a passion for making a difference. A North Carolina native, she grew up believing that education and community involvement are twin pathways to creating a just and more inclusive society.
A longtime champion of children and education, Stephanie serves on the Georgia State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care established by Gov. Nathan Deal. She is the founding chair of the governing board of GEEARS, the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, an independent successor group to the United Way's Early Education Commission, formed in August 2010. GEEARS helps businesses, government leaders, providers and parents maximize the economic return on the state's investments in early care and learning.
Blank served as chair of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation Board of Trustees until 2010, and is now a member of the CHOA System Board. She serves as the mentor leader for the Emerging Leaders for Children’s Healthcare and is also a member of the Quality Committee. She chaired the capital campaign for the Imagine It! Children’s Museum of Atlanta and is co-founder of Mothers & Others for Clean Air. Also, she is on First Lady Deal’s Children’s Cabinet, and is on the national board of Jumpstart., an early education program.
Blank is a well-known community leader and philanthropist and was named 2000 Georgia Philanthropist of the Year by the National Society of Fundraising executives. She has been a trustee of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and currently serves as Senior Strategic Advisor for Childhood initiatives. In 2001, she was a recipient of the Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Goldstein Human Relations Award. She received the Girls’ Opportunity for Adventure and Leadership “Going for the GOAL” Award in 2001. She was named to the YWCA of Greater Atlanta’s Academy of Women Achievers and, in 2002, was designated their “Woman of the Year”. In 2007, she received the Big Voice Award from Voices for Georgia’s Children and, in 2011, she received the Women's Leadership Award for Excellence in Education from the Atlanta Metro United Way.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Blank lives in Atlanta and is the proud mother of three children, a son and boy-and-girl twins.