Steve helps clients design major transformations in how they work, and he supports and coaches them through the change process

Steve has more than 25 years’ experience working with government and non-profit organisations who want to re-imagine and redesign their approach to serving their communities. He’s expert both in designing the transformation and in making it happen.

Steve is an outstanding communicator, whether he’s supporting leaders and their teams by facilitating strategic planning sessions, or leading interactive “design thinking” sessions to address particular service or performance problems. He brings a highly technical skillset, including deep financial analysis, and the ability to communicate clearly the resulting insights from that analysis to lay audiences.

The breadth of Steve’s experience and the complexity and diversity of the projects he’s worked on really stand out. In the US, Steve worked with government clients at federal, state, and city and county levels. He helped large federal agencies transform themselves from traditional bureaucracies into result-driven enterprises, and also led service-design projects in major cities like Detroit.

Clients and colleagues value Steve’s ability to facilitate planning and consultation processes on highly complex projects involving large numbers of interested bodies and individuals. He’s able to steer everyone through these processes with a clear sense of direction and structure, while also showing respect and empathy for the different interests and perspectives.

Steve is passionate about managing change effectively, as well as making sure that good performance measures are built in to any transformation project.

Examples of Steve’s work

• Developing a cost model for disability services for the Ministry of Social Development – Using different service models and scenarios, Steve led in developing a model that estimated the costs associated with providing disability services. He consulted with service providers across Aotearoa through interviews, surveys, and workshops and then distilled the findings in a report that explained the cost model and highlighted the opportunities.

• Creating customer journey maps for search and rescue operations – Steve supported Te Manatū Waka | Ministry of Transport with their review of recreational safety and search and rescue systems by helping document the actions and emotions often experienced by individuals and their whānau during search and rescue situations. The journey maps were presented to the review’s Advisory Board as it considered potential changes.

• Stakeholder engagement for the Pukeahu war memorial – To support Manatū Taonga | Ministry for Culture and Heritage in developing a new strategic direction for Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, Steve interviewed representatives from mana whenua (Taranaki Whānui and Te Āti Awa), the NZ Defence Force, High Commissions from other countries, and local residents and organisations. Steve then helped craft a draft strategic plan with clarified mission, outcomes, indicators and priorities.

• Facilitating community-wide strategic planning and service re-design – Steve led strategic planning in three large communities: Austin, Texas; Fairfax County, Virginia; and Fulton County, Georgia (which includes Atlanta). He also led service design projects covering municipal permitting (Seattle), criminal justice (Fulton County), and workforce development (Detroit).

• Advising economic development leaders as part of Bloomberg Associates’ Economic Response and Recovery Program – Steve worked with leaders from 12 cities to design and implement inclusive projects to help their communities recover from the economic impact of COVID-19.

• Supporting state and local government and non-profits to improve their performance – As Senior Principal for Accenture Steve led many performance-focussed projects, providing expertise on strategic planning, the design of organisational processes and services, performance measurement, and budget redesign.

Steve’s qualifications

Steve has an MA in Sociology (Organizational Behavior) and a BA in Political Science, both from Stanford University in the United States.