DiAnna Olsen
Email: dio64579@bethel.edu
Job titles
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Adjunct Instructor of Business
Leadership Foundations Certificate, Graduate School
MBA, Graduate School
Highlight
President of Owl Bookkeeping and CFO Services and Small Business Consultant - Entrepreneur. I took over as President of Owl Bookkeeping and CFO Services, in 2019 and acquired the business in 2020. We have a staff of over 30 employees and over 200 clients. Leadership, strategy development, collaboration, delegation, problem-solving, and conflict resolution is a daily affair as well as the full suite of small business accounting. Having spent 35 years in this industry, and graduating with a Masters's degree from Bethel, has equipped me for this role. We operate as collaborative teams and being able to empower and equip employees is critical. Serving our clients, providing meaningful work, and changing the world one well-run business at a time, is the ultimate goal. I have been an entrepreneur for over thirty years, helping small business owners: understand their finances for sound decision making, implement effective leadership behaviors and financial systems, act as a project manager, and teach the value in diversity in the workforce. Teaching cultural diversity, and diversity as a whole in the workplace is of great interest to me. I try to help organizations understand how entrepreneurship and diversity can drive innovation and competitive advantage. Our world has changed drastically in the 21st century and so must our thinking. I spend a great deal of time in Mexico, on mission, facilitating free medical clinics and eye surgeries as well as working to gain collaboration with resources and navigate social, cultural and political frameworks. We work at the clinic in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico and will be expanding to Boca de Tomtlan, Mexico. I started working on my PhD and switched over to my DBA, as I really could appreciate the practical application of what I was learning. My dissertation process will end in the summer of 2021.
Started at Bethel
2015
Education
- Bethel University - B.A. in Organizational Leadership, 2011
- Bethel University - M.A. in Organizational Leadership, 2013
Courses taught
Fundamentals of Project Management
Beyond Diversity
Intercultural Communications
Publications
Cries from under the Bridge. A thesis that focused on how foreign policy contributes to poverty. The focus was on qualitative research completed on the U.S. and Mexico border. What I found was shocking: destitute poverty and the inability to pay for medical care. Out of this thesis, Life on the Border was born; a non-profit 501c3 organization that leads medical missions to Mexico,on the border.
Professional organizations, committees, and boards
Founder and President: Life on the Border
American Board Member: Mabel's Free Clinic
Mexican Board Member: CLINICA GRATUITA MABEL de MEXICO, A.C., appointed in Rio Bravo, Mexico
Hobbies and interests
My hobbies are traveling the world and learning to adapt in and understand other cultures. My most recent project is understanding how to operate with a collectivist lens. It is what is necessary for international work but is challenging as I come from an individualistic society. I am focused on navigating the most mutually beneficial outcomes in our cross-cultural collaborative partnerships.
Areas of expertise
Small business financial consulting (under 20 million in gross sales) and project management. I have been an entrepreneur for 30 years, helping small business owners understand their finances. I consult as well as lead projects from organizational change to process development. I enter into organizations that need to revamp the process, reorganize to get the right talent in the right chairs, and automate software systems for efficiency; I utilize the team and talent that is already in place and bring them together to collaborate and resolve efficiency issues. I work on projects that take 1 week to 12 months. Cultural diversity and diversity as a whole is an interesting area of mine. I spend a great deal of time in Mexico working to gain collaboration between community resources; resources are few, so it is important that the community comes together to utilize what they have in the most efficient way. I try to help organizations understand diversity and how diversity can drive innovation and how important innovation is right now. Our world has changed drastically in the 21st century and so must our thinking.
Quote
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela