Speaker

Steve is Managing Partner of OPX, a design consultancy focused on helping good companies work better. A recognized thought-leader, facilitator, speaker, panelist, educator and mentor, Steve has pioneered a new way of looking at organizations, operations, and culture. By infusing the practice of design with his innovative thinking on business performance, he has created a value proposition in the market through the integration of people, tools, and place with business operations and strategy.

With Steve’s input and support, OPX has also built innovative tools to help their clients work better in different ways. Vium is an app that helps people manage their work lives better, and ESP is an award-winning scenario planning tool that models the qualitative implications of design decisions in a work environment.

Steve is passionate about providing true value to his clients and is committed to open and honest working relationships. His hands-on project approach, paired with straightforward, meaningful communication, allows him to understand client viewpoints and interpret those needs into actionable and effective solutions for organizations around the world.

Clients Steve has served include AARP, Amtrak, Albright Stonebridge Group, ABC News, The College Board, DC Health, Hilton Worldwide, Hogan Lovells, The City of Turku Finland, Nelson Mandela’s Education Initiative, the National Science Foundation, The Institute for Justice, and many others.

As a founder of two businesses before OPX, Steve is also former adjunct professor at The Catholic University of America, and frequently a guest lecturer and panelist at colleges and universities including: Babson College, George Washington University, Virginia Tech, and Georgetown University. Steve lectures on Design Thinking, Demand Creation, Conscious Capitalism, and most recently the Post-Pandemic Workplace.

Steve is a member of and has served in leadership positions on a variety of corporate and non-profit boards, such as Eurasia Foundation, Global Impact UK Advisory Board, the Conscious Venture Lab, Daedalus Systems, Inc., The Smarter DC Challenge, the Krewe of Red Beans, and the Venture Advisory Collaborative. Polo also served two terms as board chair of Global Impact.

Internally, he supports and encourages the OPX team to continue to build an environment of creativity, learning and diversity throughout the company to best deliver on our promise to make good companies work better.