April VanPutten

April VanPutten, Owner, is a life-long learner who has a passion for the nonprofit landscape, leadership, and professional development. Whether it be reading books, conducting research, or working on her dissertation in Organizational Leadership, April is always looking for ways to implement best practices to help companies and individuals operate efficiently and effectively. April’s strong interest and expertise in the non-profit sector has allowed her to find her niche in small businesses. Seeing how nonprofit organizations help cultivate communities of difference makers fueled her passion for these small businesses and their mission to make the world a better place. Above all, April loves building relationships and working with companies and individuals to help maximize their strengths and catapult their teams to organizational heights.

Background and Professional Certifications

April has an exceptional educational background that sets her up for success as a consultant. After completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting she worked in property management for seven years and fell in love with small businesses. During this time, she completed a Masters in Business Administration from GVSU – Go Lakers! April spent twelve years in higher education and developed her passion for teaching. She is currently working on a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from Indiana Wesleyan University and is in the dissertation phase. Her dissertation topic is the impact of leader psychological capital on employee engagement in academic libraries. Her goal is to graduate in the spring of 2023.

April has completed several professional certifications. She is a CNP – Certified Nonprofit Professional through the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance and is also Enneagram Certified. April has close to 20 years of experience with Quickbooks and is pursing Quickbooks certification as well.

Personal Assessments

April enjoys using assessment tools to better understand herself and others and is genuinely curious about how the various assessments intersect. Her top five StrengthsFinder strengths are harmony, maximizer, self-assurance, analytical, and relator. She is an Enneagram 1w2 and her Myers-Briggs Type is ESTJ – the Executive.

“April is gifted in relationship building. She seeks out opportunities to mentor others, and thrives in those types of roles, whether it is with students or peers. In those mentor relationships, she is patient, supportive, and forthright. I have never seen April happier than when she was working one-on-one with a student or a peer and helping them grow in knowledge and abilities.”
Rachel Hammond; Owner, Hammond Consulting