Steve DelCastillo, PhD, is currently the Director of the Center for New Directions in Politics and Public Policy. He is an economist having received his PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder. His work and research have focused in the areas of labor economics and political economy.  His previous work assignments have included the Governor's Office, the Center for Creative Leadership, and Kaiser Permanente. Examples of his work have included: a member of team that designed a Strategic Leadership Program and development of a Cultural Competence Assessment Index.

Dr. DelCastillo currently teaches a class entitled The Political Economy of Inequality, focusing on inequality at the individual, institutional, and national levels. He employs a systems model helping students understand the relationship between politics and economics. He is currently working on a book focused on A Systems Approach to Understanding the Political Economy.