Overcoming adversity is nothing new to Steven Matly.
A high school dropout turned entrepreneur, he has twice created six figure revenue generating companies and recently seven figures with less than $5,000 startup capital. Raised by a single mother in the South Seattle housing projects, Steven entered the workforce at age fifteen and quickly recognized the limited resources, mentors, and role models available to families like his in the area.
In the years that followed Steven worked for both small companies and large corporations in several different leadership roles.

In 2014, Steven launched SM Diversity, a boutique hiring agency committed to helping businesses create a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

By connecting them with community-based organizations, subject matter experts, and experienced recruiters, his clients can leverage a broader network of diverse talent, ultimately resulting in an expanded marketplace.
Steven has become one of the up and coming thought leaders in the area of diversity and inclusion employment practices.

He was recently featured in the Forbes (Top 10 Diversity and Inclusion Trail blazers you should get familiar) with and Seattle Magazine (Top 35 Most Influential People of the Year) alongside Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Kevin Johnson of Starbucks.

The Seattle Times October 2016 magazine interviewed Steven and featured him on the front page for discussions around “Untapped Talent”.

Comcast NBC Universal Executives along with their Employee Resources Groups invited Steven Matly and his colleagues to speak about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion at their Annual ERG Summit.

His work and impact can be seen on the internationally known TED TALKS community at University of Washington on May 2017 as it relates to organizational behavior and Inclusive Leadership.
He has organized ground breaking workshops such as their HACK Diversity & Inclusion Program with all proceeds benefiting various nonprofits while serving on panels alongside organizations such as Technology Access Foundation, Seattle Human Resource Society, Tech Inclusion, Seattle Interactive Conference, Chase Startup Week, WTIA, Uber, F5, Boeing, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Bank Of America, Amazon, Zillow, Expedia, Wells Fargo, Boeing, Progressive, Talent Acquisition Week San Francisco, Starbucks, BECU, Seattle Interactive Conference, Nintendo, T-Mobile, Tableau, Nordstrom, WeWork, and other Fortune 500 companies.
In his quest for continued education, Steven successfully completed his Cornell University’s online Strategic Human Resource Leadership program focusing on Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace.

Steven also completed the Business Certificate Program at University of Washington Foster School of Business in August 2017 and serves as a Partner/Advisor to several startups providing end to end resources towards current and future Entrepreneurs and small business owners in underserved communities.