Smith Soc Featured Member

Questions and Answers with Adam Smith Society Members.

Steven K. Trepkowski | Georgetown McDonough Chapter

Steven K. Trepkowski has been a member of the Georgetown McDonough Smith Soc chapter since autumn 2016, serving as VP of Evening Engagement in 2017 and VP of Finance in 2018. An evening-program student at Georgetown’s MBA program, he will graduate in 2019. Steven earned a BFA in electronic media from the University of Cincinnati. He works in program management and as a technical consultant to the U.S. Navy, where he served as a Surface Warfare Officer for seven years. After graduation, he wants to go into development and strategy for the defense industry.

What led to your interest in and involvement with the Adam Smith Society? What has been your favorite on-campus event or chapter activity so far?



I was drawn to the Adam Smith Society because the nonmarket forces influencing businesses and the capitalist system are extremely powerful and must be understood in order to compete effectively in today's environment. As a business leader, you ignore public policy and NGOs at your own peril! Smith Soc explores many of these forces in great detail. My favorite event hosted by our Georgetown McDonough chapter was a hugely successful tax-reform debate with Donald Marron and Scott Hodge, attended by more than 70 students, faculty, and staff.



Please describe your current work with the U.S. Navy.



I work as a government contractor providing system engineering, military operations, and administrative and financial-management support to a U.S. Navy program office.



How do technical concepts and design thinking influence your worldview and understanding of public policy?



Human-centered design thinking provides an extraordinary opportunity for innovation and developing solutions that increase efficiencies and provide for greater social welfare. By observing how people operate in their environments and naturally innovate to improve their own quality of life, we learn about human nature and discover creative solutions. Too often, public policy is shaped by how we want society to behave instead of encouraging our natural tendencies toward innovation and improvement.



What’s something interesting about you that we wouldn’t learn from your résumé alone?



I've hiked the Kalalau Trail along the Nā Pali Coast on the island of Kauai—most beautiful thing I've ever seen.