Stephen B. Wehrenberg

Contributing Editor, The Bowie Banner

BowieBanner.com 

Stephen B. Wehrenberg, Ph.D., retired in 2015 as the Chief of Human Resource Strategy and Capability, United States Coast Guard, and Director of Future Force, an ambitious ongoing effort to overhaul human resource systems and processes to support line managers and the workforce in the pursuit of Coast Guard missions. With 26 years on active duty and 21 years as a senior civilian analyst and program manager, he brings a broad array of lessons learned to any forum. In 2006, Dr. Wehrenberg added the title Director of Executive Development to his portfolio. In 2013 he also became the sponsor and program manager for human resource information systems.

Dr. Wehrenberg has initiated, led, or been a key participant in numerous strategic planning efforts in the public and private sectors. Starting in 2003, he helped guide a scenario-based planning effort that resulted in a new breed of Strategic Plan for the Coast Guard -- a plan that makes an intentional assertion about the future, not merely a contingency plan. In an integrated effort, he created and documented a Business Model for Coast Guard Human Resources that describes how the HR system adds value to the Coast Guard's missions. This model served as the stepping-off point for an HR Roadmap, a capability-based HR strategy that has created the foundation for multiple annual business-planning cycles. Dr. Wehrenberg also led a team that developed an HR Dashboard, a top-level balanced scorecard that measures key leading indicators in the HR system to evaluate the achievement of high level strategy. These measures, in turn, are linked to a continuously evolving Coast Guard Readiness Management System, that measures the Coast Guard's value to the Nation -- in the development of which he was a key contributor.

Dr. Wehrenberg was a Professorial Lecturer in Organizational Sciences in the Graduate Organizational Sciences Program at The George Washington University. He created GWU's Strategic Human Resource Planning and Management course and conducted seminars in organizational theory and behavior for almost 20 years. He co-founded and operated a consulting firm from 1980-1990; clients included the Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority, The College of William and Mary, AT&T (Greensboro), Virginia Power, Kaiser Medical Centers, and the Canadian Coast Guard. He was also a contributing editor to Personnel Journal (now Workforce) from 1982-1990.

His military career covers the bases. He was a Chief Sonar Technician, a Warrant Electronics Specialist, a Warrant Personnel Specialist, and received a commission as a LT in 1986. He taught at the Navy's Fleet Sonar School and the Coast Guard Leadership and Management Program; served six years in High Endurance Cutters McCulloch (WHEC 386) and Gallatin (WHEC 721), where he earned his permanent Cutterman's Pin; served as Chief of Organization Development; created the workforce planning staff; spent a year leading a project to develop a  Marine Safety Office staffing model; worked in Reserve Program Planning; and served on various organizational structure studies.

As an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow and member of the Alumni Advisory Board, he specialized in energy security and environmental issues and brought that knowledge to the Coast Guard's long-range strategy development process. He is also a founding Director of The Energy Consensus, a non-profit organization in Washington dedicated to educating decision-makers in the many facets of energy security and the interaction of energy and the environment. A recognized expert in change management, Dr. Wehrenberg co-founded the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) in 2011; worldwide membership now exceeds 10,000.

Continuing his interest in energy and other environmental issues into retirement, Steve recently served as the Chair of the Environmental Advisory Committee for the City of Bowie, Maryland, advising the Mayor and City Council on issues and solutions related to environment, climate disruption, and sustainability,  He still advises the City's Planning Department and Sustainability Manager.  

Steve's most recent endeavor is a reaction to the demise of local newspapers in Bowie, MD.  An advocate of local journalism, he co-founded The Bowie Banner, a newsletter and web-based news outlet with ambitions to support a USPS-delivered newspaper to 20,000 Bowie homes.