Associates

Steven Joiner

Steven Joiner is a speaker, writer, teacher, and project manager with 15 years of experience  stretching from the American east coast to the shore of Asia. He journey began as a classroom English teacher (high school, ESL, and reading/study skills) which took him to Finland, Japan, and San Francisco, California. After getting a master’s degree in Adult Education, Steven returned to Asia to teach at a university as well as create and teach courses in international business relations with some of Japan’s largest companies.

In 2007 he took his love of social-impact work and his deep understanding of the nonprofit    sector into his work as the Director of Career Transitions with the nonprofit-resource website Idealist.org. While at Idealist Steven authored the widely-read Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers for Sector Switchers, wrote a monthly ‘Career Corner’ blog, and travelled around the country helping professionals discover ‘roadmaps’ to finding a paid nonprofit position. He guided the launch of Idealist.org’s comprehensive career support program, including taking the webinar series from idea to implementation. Steven also worked as a coalition builder, strategic planner, and project manager at the organizational, think tank, and foundation levels.

Since leaving Idealist, Steven continues writing and speaking at the national level while also advising organizational leaders, grant-makers, boards, think tanks, and job-placement organizations around resource development, coalition building, project management, talent pipeline management, intergenerational workplace issues, national programmatic replication initiatives, and infrastructural changes to recruit and retain the modern workforce’s talent pool. He is a featured workforce expert in the NY Times, Marketplace, and in a host of local media outlets.

As a keynote and conference presenter, Steven continues to address diverse audiences. He is a regular speaker at national trade association and conferences like the American Society of Aging and the National Career Development Association as well as a partner and presenter on campuses (4-year institutions and community colleges) working with emerging, recareering, and post-career professionals.

Steven received his B.A. in Secondary English Education from North Carolina State University and his M.A. in International Adult Education from San Francisco State University.

Paul Wild

Paul Wild has almost 30 years public and private sector experience providing training and project management services worldwide.  He started his career in West Africa and stayed in the international development arena for 15 years.  During that time, Paul worked on short and long-term assignments in Africa, Asia, and South America where he managed rural development, land-use planning, natural resource management, micro-finance, and training projects.

While in Africa, Paul worked to forge innovative approaches to participatory development that he helped to disseminate in Senegal, Niger, Cameroon, and Uganda.   One of his projects was cited in Congressional testimony as an example of a successful natural resource management activity in Africa. His input was sought by the World Bank project design team of Niger’s National Natural Resource Management project which was based upon the success of his, and similar, projects.

Paul joined Portland Community College’s Customized and Workplace (CWT) Department in 1996.  While a Project Manager and Director at CWT Paul has worked with more than 100 local companies to design and deliver training services for bioscience, high tech, manufacturing, metals, and agricultural businesses.  He developed innovative approaches to training design that includes reverse engineering of jobs and performance management systems that were adopted region-wide by local community colleges.  Paul also successfully collaborated with Economic Development agencies to attract biotechnology and solar energy companies to the region.

Paul currently consults with and advises employers about strategic workforce planning (SWP), sustainability and other issues related to managing a 21st Century Workforce.  Based on his extensive experience introducing innovative practices such as SWP to employers worldwide Paul emphasizes that all innovative practices must contribute to companies’ profitability in order to be integrated into its operations.

Paul received his B.A. in International Relations from Pomona College and his M.S. in Development Management from American University.