Transformative Relationships are the key to social service work where outcomes are sought. Direct service staff must build these relationships with participants great intention and focus. They are the backbone of 95% of the social programs I have worked with... They are often referenced and often highlighted in public facing materials, but rarely measured and managed.
Driven by his personal experience as a direct service worker, Steve founded Social Solutions in 2000 to help organizations relate efforts to outcomes and improve service delivery. Prior to founding Social Solutions, Steve worked with a Chesapeake Bay Foundation program for at-risk youth, the Learning Bank, an adult literacy center in West Baltimore, and again with at-risk Baltimore youth at the Living Classrooms Foundation. It was his work in these roles that prompted Steve to realize the need for better understanding about whether his services were actually having an impact on his students. Under Steve's leadership, Social Solutions grew to serve thousands of human service organizations and government agencies throughout U.S. and internationally. Steve left the organization in 2014 and is now focused on his work leading the Superstar Foundation and as part of the Leap of Reason team that continues to push philanthropy and the social sector towards high performance. Steve pursues his passion for empowering direct service workers to do great work as the Founder and Chairman of the Board for the Superstar Foundation. The Foundation has recognized more than a dozen service professionals in the last four years through its annual Veronica Awards.
Steve can usually be found playing a wide variety of sports with his three children or plotting his next getaway with his wife, Lisa. Steve's true passions — outside of helping non profits improve their performance — are baseball and sailing. He is currently planning a circumnavigation with a crew of friends, and his family will be joining him for a prolonged stretch in the South Pacific.