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STEVEN TAYLOR, D.B.A.

Founder and Principal

Steven is the director and senior fellow for the future of work 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. He develops external policy partnerships and builds issue-focused coalitions to elevate policy reforms to remove access and funding barriers and misaligned incentives in the education-to-work ecosystem so all individuals can leverage their skills and aptitudes to find purposeful work.

 

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). ​

 

Before 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, leading teams of subject matter experts to develop online training and certification courses for regulatory professionals in the healthcare 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 before 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.

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FEATURED ARTICLES​

OP-EDS & ONLINE ARTICLES

 

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

  • Skills-Based Hiring is Not Just an Executive Order. ASU+GSV Summit, San Diego, CA. 2024.

  • Graduating Students with Less Debt and More Skills. ASU+GSV Summit, San Diego, CA. 2024.

  • Solutions on the Sidelines: Policy and Funding Reforms to Unleash Education Innovation. ASU+GSV Summit, San Diego, CA. 2024.

  • The 2024 Election & Higher Education Policy [Recording]. SXSWedu, Austin, TX. 2024.

  • Skills-Based Hiring: A Primer [Recording]. Whiteboard Advisors. 2024.

  • Removing Barriers of a College Degree. State Policy Network 23rd Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. 2023.

  • Six Decades, Trillions of Dollars, and Millions of Lessons - Charting the Future of Financial Aid [Recording]. Reagan Institute Summit on Education, Washington, DC. 2023.

  • Higher Education & Workforce Development Subcommittee Member Retreat. U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 2023.

  • Reskilling, Upskilling, and Flexible Development Opportunities Are Top Priorities. Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association International, TechNet Cyber 2023, Baltimore, MD. 2023.

  • Help Wanted: Responsive & Innovative Workforce Development. 6th Annual Policy Circle Leadership Summit, Fort Worth, TX. 2022.

  • Master Plan for Higher Education Advisory Committee Meeting [Webinar]. PA Board of Education. 2021.

  • Is Accreditation a Barrier to Innovation? ASU+GSV Summit, San Diego, CA. 2021.

  • Transfer Policy and Practice Recommendations from the ACE National Task Force. AACRAO Annual Meeting. 2021.

  • How Students Experience and Perceive Transferring Earned Credit: A National Perspective [Webinar]. American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). 2020.

  • From Training to Employment: Rebuilding America’s Workforce Post-COVID-19 [Webinar]. Merit. 2020.

  • Getting America Back to Work: Skills-Based Hiring for Small and Medium-Sized Firms [Webinar]. Saylor.org. 2020.

  • Rethinking Career-Relevant Instruction in Pandemic Times [Webinar]. ACE Engage. 2020.

  • Linking Learning and Work Through Career-Relevant Instruction. Lilly Conference, San Diego. 2020.

  • Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Motivation to Engage in Faculty Development. Lilly Conference, Bethesda, MD. 2019.

  • Evolving Roles of Colleges and Universities. Reimagining the Higher Education Ecosystem Challenge Convening. US Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, Washington, DC. 2018.

  • New Pathways to Growth: Student-Centered Approaches That Lead to Institutional Success (Moderator). AGB National Conference on Trusteeship, San Francisco, CA. 2018.

  • Innovation-Driven Approaches to Teaching Effectiveness. ACE 100th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. 2018.

  • Advances at the Frontier of Work and Learning: GE-Northeastern University-ACE EQUIP Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. ACE 100th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. 2018.

  • Developing Inclusive Classrooms: Teaching Outcomes Worth Considering. Lilly Conference, Anaheim, CA. 2018.

  • Measuring the Impacts and Outcomes of Faculty Development. POD Network Conference, Montréal, CAN. 2017.

  • EQUIP: Innovation in Education & Training. Software & Information Industry Association, Washington, DC. 2017.

  • Instructional Quality, Student Outcomes, and Institutional Finances. ACE 99th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. 2017.

  • Creating Alternative Education Pathways. UPCEA Summit for Online Leadership and Strategy, Washington, DC. 2016.

  • Creating Alternative Education Pathways. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Austin, TX. 2016.

  • Competency-Based Micro-credentials. CBExchange, Phoenix, AZ. 2015.

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

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