Steven is currently a senior fellow on postsecondary education at Stand Together, a philanthropic community focused on removing barriers in education, business, communities, and government so every person can rise to their full potential. At Stand Together, he provides thought leadership in developing and executing the team’s vision and strategy on postsecondary education, driving external policy partnerships, and building issue-focused coalitions to advance the team’s postsecondary education goals.

 

In 2019, Steven founded ED2WORK to help postsecondary institutions and employers address the critical needs of adult and working learners. He also held affiliated roles as senior adviser on upskilling at Greater Washington Partnership, and managing consultant of the National Task Force on the Transfer and Award of Credit at the American Council on Education (ACE). ​

 

Prior to ED2WORK, Steven led national academic innovation initiatives at ACE, which included oversight of ACE CREDIT® and developing and leading ACE's teaching and learning innovation body of work. He was the principal investigator on three major postsecondary education practice and research grants to advance teaching effectiveness, competency- and work-based learning, and build flexible credentialing pathways. Steven teaches and develops courses on organizational development, training and development, and experiential learning at Wilmington University (DE). ​

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Early in his career, Steven led and secured funding for the first Texas Pre-Freshman Engineering Program (TexPREP) in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, a pre-college summer enrichment program for middle and high school students to study STEM in a college setting. He has also worked in student development positions at the University of North Texas and helped to launch the Richland Collegiate High School at Richland College, part of the Dallas County Community College District. Steve also worked in corporate learning and development at the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS), leading teams of subject matter experts to develop online training and certification courses for regulatory professionals in the health care industry.

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Steven is a first-generation college student and Pell Grant recipient who began his postsecondary education journey at Mt. San Jacinto College in southern California, where he earned two associate of arts degrees prior to transferring to Texas A&M University, Commerce where he graduated with a bachelor's in health education and political science and masters in training and development. More than a decade later, Steven earned his doctorate in business administration (D.B.A.) from Wilmington University in Delaware, where his research focused on employee motivation and engagement in performance improvement efforts. ​