Stephen A. bender

Stephen A. Bender, PMP, CSQA, CSTE, CQE, Master Practitioner in NLP, Certified Language and Behavior Consultant

Steve Bender, President of The Quality Connection, is a management consultant, past Senior Examiner for New York State's Excelsior Award, and veteran in Quality Assurance. He is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from PMI, Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA) from QAI, and Certified Quality Examiner (CQE). He holds Bachelor's (BSEE, '69) and Master's (MSCS, '71) degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and was listed in The Yearbook of Authorities, Experts, and Spokespersons and is a Life Member of the International Registry of Who's Who. He has participated in numerous areas in information technology, service, manufacturing, human resources, executive management, and strategic management consulting. With extensive experience in Total Quality Management and rapid culture change added to over 30 years in Information Systems, his interactive style is known to thousands of attendees. 

He has been an active seminar leader and keynote speaker for a number of associations, institutes, State and Federal Governments, and numerous personal, professional, and business organizations throughout the world. Steve has conducted seminars throughout the USA, and in Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Canada, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and India; Steve chaired the PEOPLE track for the Quality Assurance Institute's National Conference, and was also a member of their Board of Advisors. He had been selected to join a delegation of Americans to discuss quality before the Soviet Union and Belgium, as part of the Citizen's Ambassador Program chaired by President Reagan. In addition, he has chaired the Total Quality for Financial Services Excellence Conference in New York City. He actively teaches and consults in the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) before a number of Fortune 500 companies. His work includes quality awareness and assessment, project management and requirements, human resource development (culture change) for TQM, emotional intelligence, and preparation for The Baldrige Quality Award. 

He is responsible for a number of highly successful top-to-bottom overhauls in Fortune 500's of quality processes, project activities, interpersonal communication methods, requirements gathering techniques, and strategic planning methods based on new missions and visions.  Over the past several years, his project work in government has been regarded by many to be "best in class".

The average productivity gain people have found using his project productivity techniques is a factor of two, with triple and quadruple effectiveness not uncommon. Steve was invited into Federal Express to examine and help correct certain quality deficiencies in their IT area. The following year, FedEx won the Baldrige quality award. Another customer spent 1/2 hour utilizing one of Mr. Bender's techniques for requirements gathering, and saved $11.8 Million dollars as a result.

Another quality award finalist took feedback results from the team Steve chaired and went on to become the state quality award winner the following year

He has edited and contributed material for books on testing, standards, human resources, computer assessment of mutual funds, and written for Government and Computer News, The QAI Journal, Industry Week, The Journal of Quality and Participation, The Capital District Business Review, Denver Business Journal, Anchor Point, and others. He has written for Productivity SA of South Africa, and had been invited there to improve corporate quality for those wishing to end Apartheid. He is author of How to Achieve a Total Quality Life, a nationally advertised Audio Tape series on the relationship between quality of personal and professional life (seen on CNN, Lifetime, and Channel America). He also authored the book Managing Projects Well, on "What they don't teach you in project management school."