Dr. Stephanie Hoopes Halpin, assistant professor and director of the New Jersey DataBank at the School of Public Affairs and Administration, is the lead researcher and author of United Way of Northern New Jersey’s ALICE Report. ALICE is an acronym that describes New Jersey men and women who are “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, [and] Employed.” The ALICE Report is a study of the financial hardship experienced by these individuals.

[The following article about Halpin and the ALICE Report has been reprinted with permission from the United Way of Northern New Jersey.]

Stephanie Hoopes Halpin: The Woman Behind ALICE

If there ever was a woman who believed in the power of individuals to improve communities, it is Stephanie Hoopes Halpin, author of United Way of Northern New Jersey’s new ALICE Report.  And it is really no wonder when you learn a bit more about her roots and rearing.

Stephanie’s formative years were spent in Delaware at Wilmington Friends, a Quaker school known for “challenging students to seek truth, to value justice and peace, and to act as creative, independent thinkers with a conscious responsibility to the good of all.“

These ideals were further cultivated while attending college at Wellesley.  As an all-female college, women are empowered to hold all positions – from powerful department heads and college president to all support roles involved in keeping the college running. [read more]