Fall 2026 Michelle Bressler Scholarship Awardee - Tere Stepper

OWLA is pleased to announce our Michelle Bressler Scholarship Awardee Tere Stepper While it was a very difficult decision to pick just one applicant, we are thrilled to help support this remarkable student!

Tere Stepper

Bio:

Tere Stepper was born in Peru and raised in a family dedicated to healthcare and service. Her father is a physician, and her mother is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Tere earned a bachelor’s degree in Midwifery in Peru, where she began her professional career providing comprehensive maternal and reproductive healthcare services. As a practicing midwife, she assisted with childbirth, provided family planning counseling, treated sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and taught childbirth education classes.

After moving to the United States, Tere continued her commitment to maternal-child health by working as a Childbirth Educator beginning in 2009. In 2014, she became an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) after completing lactation training through LactaRed Peru.

In 2019, following the loss of her husband, Tere stepped away from her professional responsibilities to focus on her family and spend dedicated bereavement time with her then 11-year-old son. Shortly thereafter, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many professional and educational activities, and her certifications lapsed during this period.

Today, Tere serves as a Community Health Worker (CHW) and Childbirth Educator, while also working within the Pharmacy Department at Adventist Health Portland.  Committed to supporting families in her nearby communities, she founded the New Moms Group in Sandy, Oregon, providing education, connection, and support for new parents.

While working full-time, Tere pursued advanced education through the Human Lactation Program offered by Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Portland State University (PSU). Through this program, she gained extensive clinical experience under the mentorship of IBCLC preceptors in a variety of healthcare settings throughout the Portland metropolitan area. She successfully completed the program and graduated on May 30, 2026.

Tere currently resides in Oregon City, Oregon, with her mother, two cats, and a dog. While her son, now 19 years old, is serving for a year in the Philippines as a humanitarian mission pilot.