Morgan Cephas

Morgan Cephas was elected to serve her first term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in November 2016. As a lifelong public servant and native of West Philadelphia, Morgan has worked tirelessly to forge cross-sector collaborations and partnerships to solve some of the community’s biggest challenges. Throughout her career, Morgan realized public safety, job security, access to quality education and healthcare were the key components to ensuring that a community can thrive. In the General Assembly, Morgan's priorities include expanding access to healthcare to improve health outcomes, increasing educational opportunities and career pipelines for youth and young adults, creating jobs through business incentives, and ensuring women and girls are a priority.

Since joining the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Morgan has passed legislation to reverse the trend of maternal mortality; improve dental health outcomes for children; reduce gun violence through banning ghosts guns; brought dignity to incarcerated women; make student loan forgiveness programs tax exempt; and expanded public-private partnerships to increase childcare access. Since her first term, she has successfully secured over $21 million in state funds to improve local schools, parks, businesses, and libraries and to jumpstart community development projects throughout the 192nd. Notably, Morgan brought the first special admit school to West Philadelphia, built a new Cassidy Elementary School and created a partnership between Google and the Community College of Philadelphia.

During the 2023-24 session, Cephas was elected by her Philadelphia colleagues as Chairwoman of the Philadelphia House Delegation. Additionally, she serves at the Co-Chair of the Pennsylvania Black Maternal Health Caucus where she helped coordinate $25 million for statewide maternal health initiatives, secured a $2.5 million line item in the state budget, and launched a Pennsylvania Momnibus Legislative Package focused on improving health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum people in Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining the legislature, Morgan served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to 4th District Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. in Philadelphia after graduating with a degree in political science from the University of Virginia. As Deputy Chief of Staff, Morgan helped ensure families in the district were able to live, work and play in thriving neighborhoods. She secured resources to revitalize area commercial corridors; oversaw
improvements to upgrade recreation centers; and assisted in securing funds for improvements to local schools. Expanding her experience beyond the walls of City Hall, Morgan joined the team at the Philadelphia Youth Network to focus more on increasing the education and workforce opportunities available to Philadelphia’s most vulnerable youth by growing career-connected internship in the City.

Not only has Morgan dedicated her career to serving her district by providing resources, but she has also been consistently involved in various volunteer efforts. Currently, she serves on the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Board, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (Pennvest) board of directors, and the Community College of Philadelphia Board of Trustees, and is a member of the President’s Advisory Council at Lankenau Medical Center. Morgan is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta and a member of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Links Incorporated.

Rep. Cephas' Committees and Caucuses

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