APTUM STRATEGIES is a specialist, Socially Intelligent Organization (SIO) design and culture change consultancy firm. The SIO concept takes inspiration from ISO 26000, the international working standard for social responsibility. While the focus of social responsibility is primarily external, an SIO’s focus is on optimizing the internal workforce and organization structure.
Organizations adhering to SIO principles are consistently profitable despite external forces. An SIO focuses on developing a culture where stories of aspiration, accomplishment, and success are woven into personal and professional growth while fostering rich relationships and knowledge sharing.
Aptum Strategies is comprised of like-minded professionals from around the globe and across all sectors with a passion to build SIO cultures for the benefit of business growth, communities and individuals. Let us share our passion with you.
Meet Our Team
Richard O’Shaughnessy
Authentic, Influencer, Motivator
The mission comes first — If you take care of your people, the people take care of the mission. Rich O’Shaughnessy learned this axiom in his first job with the United States Air Force and has creatively found ways to refine and apply it ever since. Throughout a military career culminating in reaching a position only one percent of Air Force members achieve, Rich honed his skills as a leader of people, manager of resources and trusted advisor to senior leaders. After leaving military service, he worked as a partner in a private consultant company responsible for strategic planning, business capture and also performed on site consulting. Many clients were government agencies striving to create more efficient organizations. Rich led teams in finding innovative ways to do their work more effectively and efficiently while strictly following the government budget rules for documenting cost savings. This work led him to write a book widely used in government for organizational design of most efficient organizations.
Rich’s awards and appointments include the USAF Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award, Appointment as an examiner for The Baldrige National Quality Award and four awards of the USAF Meritorious Service Medal. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Business Management with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, is a Certified Project Management Professional and has past certifications as an ISO9000 auditor, Certified Quality Auditor and Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence.
Rich brings the “art of the long view” to every team he works with. Success begins with an appreciation that every problem and organization is unique in the context of time and demands a bespoke strategy to achieve break through results. Rich packages this strategy within the framework of project management; ensuring a clear description of success, thorough planning, coordinated execution, timely monitoring and control through closing with predictable results.
My greatest thrill is seeing the transformation that occurs in people when they are able to work at their full potential. Experience with teams from assembly lines to financial services to engineering are that individuals who learn to thrive in a work environment requiring excellence, provided the tools and methods, while encouraged to take risks never want to work in any other way. I lead those transformations with enthusiasm!
My selection as a Baldrige National Quality Award Examiner by the Department of Commerce shaped my thinking on the necessity of integration of effort and development of synergy. The opportunity afforded working with leaders and experts from several industries in evaluating award proposals. The winners were those who designed organizations based on optimizing the whole and created synergy among functions to strategically and purposefully align effort and resources.
For three years I had the privilege of working as the Knowledge Management Consultant for the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. The significance of the center’s work in promoting stability, countering terrorism and fostering democracy is making an impact in thinking and relationships among nations. The opportunity to put in place a fully functional knowledge system to capture new knowledge and codify what was previously learned, knowing future leaders, presidents even, would benefit from the effort of the team I lead and facilitated, remains some of the most fulfilling work I’ve been involved with.
Michael Dubroff
Thoughtful, Hardworking, Intuitive
I think of myself as an individual who honestly cares about people and the environment they live and work in. I am more concerned about who a person is rather than what they do. I believe in teamwork and in the importance of positive communication. I am friendly, compassionate, outgoing, like to have fun, and have good laugh.
I spent 23 years in the United States Air Force and 15 years in Civil Service. I have a BA in Psychology, Masters in Social Work and a Masters in Human Relations/Communication. The jobs I performed ranged from directing Total Quality Management for a workforce of over 600 individuals, working in and being in charge of Mental Health Clinics and Drug Testing Program Manager for an Air Force Wing of 4500 Airmen.
The best part of working in Aptum Strategies is the opportunity to work with a great crew. Life sometimes can be very challenging whether in the workplace or in other areas. One of my passions is to give people an opportunity to view their environment from a different perspective. I enjoy seeing people within an organization striving to be the best they can be by utilizing social and emotional intelligence in all areas of their life.
Joy Severin
Resourceful, Vivacious, Connector
Although the saying may feel somewhat trite, the words of Mother Theresa seem to echo the culmination of my internal drive in a very personal way: “None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful”. I am, at my purest iteration, a networker. I prefer the word “connector”, as it places the emphasis on the connections themselves and not just the latent gain of those associations. I spent the majority of the last decade of my professional life consulting with and growing several small startups of various scope and scale, all the while amassing an incredible circle of individuals who continue to inspire and drive the dreams around them. The combination of experience in small startups, working with seasoned achievers, and a great love for the background details are all components of what makes me so excited to be a part of Aptum Strategies.
As a former event coordinator and executive assistant, I find a great deal of satisfaction in bringing details together within the equilibrium of people and planning. Really, the ability to create rapport is one of the greatest skills I bring to the table. With an educational background in both Psychology and Organizational Leadership, being able to engage with and truly understand those around me has proven to be invaluable. As H.E. Luccock wisely stated, “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it”. I thrive when I can help facilitate this kind of dynamic within a team, which proves to be another reason why being a part of the Aptum Strategies team is so exhilarating.
The most impactful experiences I’ve had have been the painful moments of failure. Actually, it was less of one pivotal instant and more of a gradual realization that something wasn’t working and the consequent courage to do something about it. I had to learn that those unprofitable businesses and flightless ideas would either be a fuel that would engulf my sense of purpose in flames of despondency or power the engine of personal growth and innovation. The choice continues to be mine: What will I do with what’s in my hands, good or bad? I’ve developed curriculum for several youth programs, run my own event coordination business, managed several multi-million dollar organizations, but the work I’m most grateful for is the rolodex of wonderful individuals I’m fortunate to have been acquainted with. The value of the individual cannot be underscored enough, which, when combined with a socially intelligent organization, has proven to be a catalyst for meaningful and enduring work.
Christopher O’Shaughnessy
Charismatic, Reliable, Creative
Chris is a passionate and versatile author and speaker who uses a unique blend of story-telling, humor, and provocative insight to engage a wide array of people on topics ranging from cross cultural issues and the effects of globalization to building community and increasing empathy. Born in England, Chris grew up as a military brat to American parents. Chris has lived and worked across the globe and to date has ventured to more than 100 countries. Tales from these experiences form part of the fabric of his engaging presentation and have helped shape his pas-sion for helping the world benefit from the experience of expats, global nomads, and cross-cultural communities.
The effects of globalization, technological advances, and rapidly changing sociological trends have presented the world with new challenges, but also new tools and possibilities at every level: from individuals to communities, from companies to countries.
I enjoy people and focus a lot of my energy on building and growing relationships which I truly believe serve as the conduits to capitalize on the potential and possibility that abounds in our ever changing, ever globalizing, ever more connected world.
My passion for travel has allowed me to experience a wide variety of cultures and witness a my-riad of different approaches to life and work. I consider it a tremendous privilege to bring this experience to the Aptum Strategies team. I enjoy helping people expand their worldview and see a broader set of skills and possibilities while helping build a more relationally connected society.
In my early twenties, I learned the term, “Third Culture Kid” and it had a profound impact on my life. TCKs are people who grow up outside the culture their parents came from, usually amidst a high level of transition. Growing up as a military brat associated with and experiencing several countries and their cultures shaped a lot of who I am today. Learning that there was a term for such an upbringing helped me frame my own identity in a more positive and constructive way than simply identifying as “not quite” what most other people could solidly identify with. It’s also inspired me to help expand other peoples’ views of identity and culture and make use of their unique skills in an increasingly interdependent world.
My book, Arrivals, Departures and the Adventures In-Between, has received high praise from students, teachers, and other experts in the expat and international community as a resource that is both enjoyable to read and able to instill truths, insights and skills essential to navigating life successfully in an increasingly globalized world. It has also been used in teaching cross-cultural skills and instilling global awareness in a variety of disciplines at the college level and for busi-nesses.