My clients call me their secret weapon. The compliment I hear most is “Olivet just GETS us.” My stock in trade is starting with a blank sheet of paper. Clients often know what or where they want to land, but need help determining how to get there. Visionary, strategist and tactician – I’m a 3-in one consultant with the track record of results to back up the claim!
Olivet Jones is an Executive Consultant to The Kaleidoscope Group who brings 25 plus years of experience to the role. Olivet’s journey in consulting began when she was Vice President of Organizational Development with James H. Lowry & Associates., a 65-person firm specializing in diversity from a talent management and supplier expansion perspective. There she honed her fundamental skills in developing courseware (two of which were incorporated into the curriculum of the largest telecommunications company in the world), leading teams, and engaging clients around what matters most to their business. In that context, her clients included Baxter Healthcare, AT&T, McKinsey and Company, Monsanto, NutraSweet, Dean Witter Reynolds, First National Bank of Chicago (pre-JPMorgan Chase), and others. She also conceptualized and co-created a unique, analytical methodology to conduct a corporate culture needs assessment to create a more diverse and inclusive culture. Through a consulting approach that she describes as “part science and part art,” Olivet has led more than 150 client organizations through the journey of achieving competency in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Clients say that as a consultant, C-Suite Strategist, and Coach, Olivet has the uncanny ability to get to the heart of what matters most for their business by creating clarity, invoking focus, and guiding purposeful action.
Her experience has allowed her to work on five continents with clients as diverse as Motorola, AT&T, Strauss Foods, Sara Lee Corporation, Dean Witter, The Perrier Group of America, Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, Brown and Williamson, Tropicana Brands, Kraft Foods, Notre Dame University, the world’s largest talent management company, 5 operating companies of the largest utility in theUnited States, and more. She is a former African-American Careers Expert for Monster, Inc., former co-host of a syndicated program (Channel 9 WGN Chicago) on employment and was featured in a major segment of ABC 20/20. Her latest authorship is focused on Women’s Leadership Development, specifically a segment that is included in a book, The Evolution of HR that was released on Amazon on May 15, 2016. For the pastseveralyears, she has enjoyed the opportunity to be a guest lecturer at Notre Dame University’s Weekend Symposium for students of color in the Science and Engineering Program. Further, she is a member of an elite coaching cadre and was approved to provide C-level coaching to executives in a major global pharmaceutical enterprise.
Examples of her work include:
Serving as the architect, lead developer, and pilot delivery lead for a one-year Inclusive Leadership Institute, for two essential functions in an engineering and technical design environment. The Institute framework included a 3-day foundation session for 60people supported by varying levels of coaching and follow-up work. The client reported a dramatic breakthrough in the culture, measurably stronger leadership team capacity, and stronger ownership of business results. “We finally broke through the silos,” succinctly summarizes their feedback on impact.
Serving as the “thought partner” and architect of the first-ever Women’s Leadership Development Summit which emphasized the partnership between women and their white male colleagues. Participants included the top 20 officers in a24,000-person company—including the Chairman—who engaged in a 1.5 interactive event around topics pivotal to the development of women.
Working directly with the Executive Leadership Team of a globally preeminent institution in reframing, reigniting the school’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
Supporting the corporate director of talent management for Strauss Foods (Israel, 12B+, privately held) for the past several years as a thought partner and architect of elements of their continuing diversity and inclusion journey. Through collaborative work with alocal, respected firm, Olivet was brought in as the subject matter expert and later took a lead design role in the creation of the overall strategy that the highest-level leaders adopted and have implemented.
In addition to a robust relationship with The Kaleidoscope Group, Olivet is an IDI certified Coach for the assessment and development of intercultural competence based on the Intercultural Development Inventory. Olivet also continues to lead the niche coaching practice of a full-service consulting firm she founded more than 28 years ago. She is an active member of her church community where she provides professional development training to a group of volunteers in an 80-person ministry. Since April of 2016, she is part of the faculty in the professional development track of the Joseph Business School, an accredited faith-based institution located in Forest Park, Illinois. She is certified as a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation, and a Certified Co-Active Professional Coach through the Coaches Training Institute, two rigorous designations that require more than 80-hours of coursework and both an oral and written competency exam and maintenance of continuing education for over a period over 3 years.
