World Peace Through Entrepreneurship: Steven Koltai at TEDxDirigo

Steven R. Koltai is an executive with thirty years' experience in business, finance, entrepreneurship, and government. Until September 2011, Steven was Senior Advisor at the US Department of State where he created and ran the Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP). Through Steven's efforts, the GEP has fostered numerous seed investments, mentoring relationships, and the launch of new venture funds and angel investor networks.

Steven is currently Managing Director of Koltai & Company LLC, which provides entrepreneurship ecosystem building services both domestically and around the world. Steven serves on numerous for-profit and not-for-profit Boards, including in Maine, having served on the Board of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development (MCED), as well as the PopTech Board.

Prior to his role at the State Department, Koltai was an investment banker (international project finance at Salomon Bros), entrepreneur (Koltai founded Coronet, today known as SES-Astra, Europe's only private television satellite system, and Event411, an online event management company based in California), spent nine years at Warner Bros as SVP of Corporate Strategy and Development and founder of Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and Warner Bros. Online, was a management consultant in the media practice at McKinsey & Company, and was a Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Steven received both his BA and MA from Tufts University and a Fulbright from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. Steven lives in Lincolnville, Maine, Washington DC and his hometown of Los Angeles, California.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)