NIR Ricki Stevenson

Ricki Stevenson has served as creative thinker, lead guide and CEO of Black Paris Tours since its inception in 1998. Stevenson, a native of Oakland, California, is a former New York and Bay Area TV/Radio news anchor/reporter and talk show host.  Ricki holds the distinction of having worked as a United Nations radio correspondent and as one of the first Black international travel reporters. She holds a master's degree in education and history from Stanford University, with an emphasis on African and African American history. Stevenson says her dream of living in Paris began when her Mother, a former dancer, took her to see Josephine Baker perform when she was three years old.  Over the years, her dream was fueled by interviews with some of the famous who fled racism in the US to live or spend time in Paris: Ray Charles, Earth Kitt, artist Lois Mailou Jones and choreographer, Geoffrey Holder. The idea for Black Paris Tours grew out of that dream and her six years work as an international travel reporter.