Speaking
Steve is a best selling author and nationally recognized thought leader and expert. He has practical experience as an educator and counselor, and as a state and national leadership for many organizations and initiatives. His experiences and expertise includes mental health, equity, technology, leadership, future careers and labor markets, and systems theory.
Steve brings experience, depth and nuance along with humor and heart as a keynoter, moderator or panelist for sessions tailors to you and your audiences needs.
Signature Keynotes
Building of his expertise and experience, Steve designs remarks to elevate student and family partnerships, foster innovative evidence-based practices, and enhance strategic leadership skill.
Designing Futures: The Future of Education
This interactive keynote invites participants to step into the role of designers of the future rather than passive recipients of change. Drawing on systems thinking tools and human-centered design principles, this session helps educators and leaders explore how interconnected policies, practices, and mindsets shape learning environments. Through reflection, dialogue, and hands-on activities, participants will imagine bold possibilities for education and leave inspired to prototype futures that are more adaptive, equitable, and responsive to the needs of learners and communities.
Tech Tools: AI and Designing to Improve Your Everyday
Designed to spark curiosity and confidence, this keynote demystifies artificial intelligence and emerging technologies through a practical, design-focused lens. Participants explore how everyday tech tools can support teaching, leadership, and problem-solving while remaining grounded in sound educational practice. The session integrates design principles with real-world education examples, while clearly addressing privacy, legal, and ethical considerations. Attendees leave with concrete strategies, a clearer understanding of AI’s role in education, and a renewed sense of agency in shaping how technology serves—not drives—learning.
Leading Lives Worth Living: Transforming Stories and Schools
This powerful and participatory keynote centers youth voice and lived experience as catalysts for meaningful change. Through stories of resilience, partnership, and transformation, participants examine how empowering young people reshapes school practices, relationships, and culture. Grounded in compassion and evidence-informed approaches, the session highlights how schools and organizations can move beyond compliance toward care, connection, and shared purpose. Attendees leave inspired to co-create environments where both students and adults can lead lives worth living.
The Architecture of Opportunity: Understanding the Legacy of Education Systems and the Future of Learning
This keynote invites deep reflection on how history continues to shape opportunity in education today. By examining pivotal moments in education law, policy, and practice, participants uncover the systems and structures that have defined access, equity, and outcomes. Interactive dialogue encourages participants to question assumptions, connect past decisions to present challenges, and imagine innovative reforms for the future. The session motivates educators and leaders to become architects of more just and forward-looking learning systems, building systems of opportunity from systems of oppression.
Beyond Learning, Beyond Leadership: Transformative Leadership and Innovation
Blending personal anecdotes with interactive reflection, this keynote challenges participants to rethink leadership as a dynamic, relational, and evolving practice. Drawing from real-world educational leadership experiences, the session explores how innovation emerges when leaders cultivate agency, curiosity, and courage—both in themselves and others. Participants engage in activities that help them clarify their values, expand their influence, and take purposeful steps forward in their leadership journey, regardless of title or role.
Systems of Care: Reimagining Opportunity and Connectedness
This compassionate and inspiring keynote explores how systems of care can transform schools and organizations into places of belonging and wellbeing. Centering youth stories and voices, participants examine how interconnected supports—relationships, policies, and practices—shape culture and outcomes. The session highlights leading educational and organizational approaches that prioritize connection, empathy, and collective responsibility. Attendees leave with renewed commitment and practical insight to build environments where care is embedded, opportunity is expanded, and people feel truly seen and supported.