Stephen Koury, VP of Channels and Partnerships, recently joined Momentive Software and stepped into a role focused on growing the company’s channel and strategic partner program. It’s the kind of work he has always gravitated toward: finding the leverage points, strengthening the structure, and building something that scales.
It’s a pattern that goes back well before his days in tech. Long before he was developing partner programs, he was doing the same kind of work on a soccer field in Pennsylvania — assessing what a community needed, designing the infrastructure, recruiting the right people, and creating something that would outlast him. The context has changed. The approach hasn’t.
A love for the game
Soccer has always been central to Stephen’s life. He played through his university years, traveled abroad with the sport, and came close to playing professionally before a knee injury changed his path. He eventually played Division 3 at a small college in western PA — and even though the trajectory shifted, the game never left him.
“It really had a great impact on my life,” he reflects.
When he and his wife settled in New Castle, Pennsylvania, a community north of Pittsburgh long defined by football, Stephen saw an opportunity. The area had plenty of athletic kids who simply didn’t fit the traditional sports mold. He thought soccer could give them something different.
Building something from nothing
So, he created the Shenango Soccer Club.
“I took my love for the game and built something for a community that I felt really needed it,” he shares.
From the start, Stephen understood that building the club meant more than putting kids on a field. He built everything around it: registration systems, child protection protocols in compliance with Pennsylvania law, coaching structures, and clear pathways for growth. The same instincts he brings to building a partner program today — document the process, establish the right guardrails, create the conditions for others to succeed — he applied two decades earlier on a grass field in Lawrence County.
“In order for it to grow and succeed, I had to create the structure and the process,” he explains. “To make sure that we had the right people engaged for the overall growth within the community.”
Creating access and belonging
The club grew to touch more than 400 families across Lawrence County.
What stood out in the feedback from parents wasn’t the wins or standings. It was belonging. Kids who had never found their footing in football or baseball discovered they could run, compete, and be part of something.
“My son or daughter was never really accepted into football or baseball because they weren’t very athletic,” parents would tell Stephen. “But they had the chance to run around the soccer field, and they learned so much from the teamwork and camaraderie.”
The simplicity of the sport helped. In a community with limited resources, the barrier to entry was low.
“Really all you needed was a pair of sneakers, a ball, and a pair of shorts,” Stephen says. “It enabled us to bring something new and exciting to a community where it wasn’t available before.”
At the end of each season, every elementary-aged player walked away with a trophy and a jersey.
“To see these young people walking around in their soccer shirts with their medals — we really had a great impact upon them.”
Over time, the results compounded. Players went on to compete in college. One young man went pre-professional. The club eventually merged with surrounding communities, developed travel programs and scholarships, and grew into something far bigger than Stephen had started.
A legacy that outlasts you
Stephen eventually stepped back from day-to-day involvement as his daughters grew up and life moved forward. But the club didn’t stop — it grew.
“They took the structure that we created and built it into a much larger operation,” he says. “It continues to live today, going on more than 20 years.”
That kind of longevity was always the goal. Stephen sees a direct parallel between building the club and the work he does today at Momentive.
“It’s very similar to what I’m doing here. For the program to grow and succeed, you must create the structure and the systems that outlast you and create opportunities for others to succeed.”
The connection he draws between the two isn’t coincidental. Whether the program runs on a soccer field or inside a software company, that’s how Stephen operates.
The leadership lesson that stuck
One of the club’s defining rules had nothing to do with tactics. Once players signed up, especially those in junior high and older, they were expected to see the season through. No quitting mid-season.
“Their teammates relied upon them,” Stephen explains. “They had to see the season through.”
He carried that standard into fatherhood. Both of his daughters, now in their late twenties, were raised the same way. His youngest, now a senior leader in finance at 29, stayed in her first job for at least two and a half years, even when it was hard.
“That built her up to the senior leader that she is today,” he says.
The principle goes beyond sports or careers. Leading with consistency means showing up for the people counting on you, especially when it’s inconvenient.
“It’s important to lead in your community as you would in life,” he says. “With the humility of knowing that if you didn’t do this, those you’re impacting might have taken a different path.”
Leading with purpose
At Momentive, Stephen sees his role and the company’s mission through a distinctive lens.
“I see my leadership role as somewhat of a ministry,” he explains. “If I’m effectively impacting somebody’s professional career, then hopefully they’re making their home life and community better, too.”
For him, the culture Momentive has built around volunteering and community engagement is an extension of that belief — a consistency between the values the company supports and the way employees are empowered to live them.
“I think Momentive as an organization does a really beautiful job of keeping that consistent for the benefit of the employees,” he says.
Advice for getting started
For anyone who wants to give back but isn’t sure where to start, Stephen’s guidance is clear and direct.
“First, find something you love. If you’re not enjoying it, you won’t make the impact you’re capable of.”
Then commit to it.
“If you jump in and out, the people you’re trying to reach won’t feel the full impact of your efforts.”
Depth of impact comes from staying, not from showing up once.
A day to build something real
When asked where he’d spend a full day volunteering with no limits, Stephen didn’t have to think long.
“Probably the most fun I’ve had was working on a playground with other men of faith for the betterment of the community,” he says. “And I’m a believer in doing things locally.”
There’s something about tangible, hands-on impact that resonates deeply with him — the kind where you drive by afterward and feel a lasting sense of pride.
“Every time we drove by, we just had a lot of joy watching the children play,” he reflects. “I would say: impact locally, and do it more often.”
It’s the same spirit that carried him through more than two decades of building — a soccer club, a community, a career, and a leadership philosophy grounded in showing up, creating well, and leaving something behind that lasts.
