Paul Steward is a member of, and was raised on, the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria; later he moved with his family to Santa Rosa in his teenage years. Paul’s father is Richard Steward of Elem, a former Vice-Chairperson and former Secretary/Treasurer of the tribe. His dad’s mom is Priscilla Brown Smith of Elem, Paul’s step-grandpa is Pete Smith of Lower Lake Rancheria, and Paul’s grandpa (dad’s dad) is Wilmer Toby Steward, Pomo with affiliation at Pinoleville reservation, the Manchester Reserve, and Round Valley reservation.
As an SRJC alumni, he has great respect and fond memories of Santa Rosa Junior College. He attended SRJC from 2004 through 2010, studying music, general education, history, and business, completing his Associates of the Arts in Business Administration in 2010, and then transferring to Sonoma State University. Paul completed his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2012 with a concentration in Marketing, and then a Master of Business Administration in December of 2017. He began a Doctor of Business Administration program at Saint Mary’s College of California in the Fall of 2020 but paused in March of 2021 to attend to difficult life matters due to the Coronavirus pandemic. His plan is to resume his study in the future. In his social and ethnic studies, he studied under Professor William Spires, Dr. Leny Strobel, Dr. Greg Sarris, Dr. Robert Collins, and Dr. Wei Ming Dariotis.
Paul has a love for learning and teaching that he attributes to his own healing journey through education. His heart’s goal is to work to educate the broader community about Native American people and create a positive connection and understanding between the two communities of America. He is a lecturer of Native American Studies/American Indian Studies at Sonoma State University and San Francisco State University. Paul accepted an Associate Professor position in the Business Department at SRJC in Fall 2023.
Paul has also earned the Quality Learning and Teaching Certificate; and the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Pedagogies for Inclusive Excellence (JEDI PIE) from San Francisco State University - Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (SFSU CEETL).
Paul loves music and attributes his love and gift of music to his dad, who taught him to play guitar at age thirteen; and the two have traveled all over the U.S.A. sharing that music. Paul leads the band Twice as Good with his dad, playing locally, nationally, and internationally. They play regularly at the Graton Casino in Rohnert Park. He sings, plays guitar, bass, saxophone, harmonica, keyboards, drums, trumpet, violin, and makes beats. He studied music at University of Nevada, Reno; Santa Rosa Junior College; and Sonoma State University; from such great teachers as Ed Corey, Mark Anderman, Bennett Friedman, Doug Leibinger; and Randy Vincent.
His musical favorites and influences are the one and only, B.B. King! Luther Allison, Magic Slim, Joe Louis Walker, George Benson, Robert Randolph, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Santana. As a singer Paul likes Freddie Hughes, the O'Jays, Jackie Payne, Wilson Pickett, Rafael Saadiq, and all those who choose to share the joy and power of vocal expression.