Stephanie C. Gaston is a proud graduate of the 2001 class of North Shore Senior High School of Galena Park ISD. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of St. Thomas (Houston, TX), where she graduated summa cum laude. While engaged in full-time college studies, Stephanie worked as a full-time primary and middle school teacher at The Joy School, a small private school for children with learning differences such as ADHD, ADD, dyslexia, and autism spectrum disorder. Stephanie went on to attend law school at Baylor University School of Law (Waco, TX), where she earned her J.D. and was a recipient of the Baylor Law School Dean’s Academic Scholarship and the Texas Young Lawyers Association Minority Scholarship. 

Stephanie currently serves as Senior Counsel, Labor Employment & Benefits at ConocoPhillips, an independent exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas. At ConocoPhillips, she provides strategic legal counsel to business unit and executive leaders across the company’s global footprint, including directing internal investigations, and advising on benefits, compensation, leave, terminations, discrimination, employee safety threat assessments, ADA and religious accommodations, and ethics violations issues. She also defends the company in EEOC and OSHA charges and other state and federal litigation filed by current and former employees. A strong believer in the power of listening to and learning from others to accelerate influence, Stephanie has established herself as a trusted advisor by understanding her client’s concerns, tolerance for risk and business objectives. Her clients within the company rely on her to foster collaborative relationships with internal stakeholders, advise on mitigating risk, lead teams with expertise and purpose, and promote a culture of compliance. 

Before joining ConocoPhillips, Stephanie was an Equity Partner at Bradley Arrant Boult Cummings LLP, a national law firm, where she represented clients across varying industries including retail, oil and gas, manufacturing, real estate, medical and education, achieving case dismissals, summary dispositions, no-fault judgments, advantageous settlements, and favorable verdicts. While at Bradley, she also served as Chair of the law firm’s Lawyers of Color Resource Group, a network for the firm’s racially and ethnically diverse attorneys. Stephanie also worked as a Partner at Clark Hill Strasburger, defending numerous commercial clients in personal injury and product liability suits, and representing petrochemical and oil & gas clients in personal injury and business dispute litigation.

Stephanie has been recognized for her contributions to the legal field, including being named to Lawyers of Color's Annual Hot List, Top 15 Women in Business in Houston, and Top 50 Women Lawyers by Texas Diversity Council. She has also presented at various conferences and seminars on topics such as workplace investigations, pay equity, and managing difficult conversations with confidence. As a woman of color who grew up in a single-parent home and went on to achieve many accomplishments in a male-dominated field, Stephanie’s broad perspective gives her a deep appreciation of diversity in all its forms.

Stephanie is actively involved in the community, contributing to various initiatives and organizations that serve the needs of underrepresented members of society and underserved communities. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Arms Wide, an organization dedicated to transforming the lives of children in foster care in need of safe and nurturing permanent families through no-fee foster care, foster care adoption, kinship care, and permanency support services. Although Stephanie has always been career and goal oriented, the things that bring her the most joy are spending time with her husband, Levi Gaston and their two daughters, Leah (14) and Savannah (8), extended family and close friends, attending live sporting events & music performances, reading, and traveling. Stephanie attributes her success to being resilient and learning to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones at every opportunity. She keeps the wise directive of one of her role models, former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Gingsburg, top of mind always: “Fight for the things that you care about but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”