Paul Nieminen

Building on his strong academic background in culture and all aspects of organizational
development, Paul Nieminen, MS, PhD (ABD), has garnered formidable industry experience in
culture change, enterprise learning strategies, performance, and talent management. Most
recently, Paul has led efforts towards structure, culture, and learning transformations (including
Business Driven Action Learning) for UPS’s 450,000 employees in over 200 countries and
territories around the globe.

Over the past 20 years at UPS, Paul has held a number of positions, including Head of Culture
and Change, Sr. Director International Organizational Development, Sr. Director IT
Compensation Design, Director of Structure and Change Management for US Domestic
Transformation, Chief Learning Officer at UPS Airlines, and various general Human Resources
Positions. Paul’s most inspiring position was Director of Organizational Development at UPS e-Ventures, where he developed significant learning capacity of the organization and led overall talent and leadership development. UPS e-Ventures was an innovative think tank that ideated, developed, and implemented futurist concepts in the logistics industry.

Paul has also held positions in the areas of policy study for the State of Georgia, including school-to-work transition, prison-to-work transition, and public education reform. He has worked on various culture and change projects for the Center of Disease Control, Harvard Medical Center, County Behavioral Health Systems, Governments and NGOs. Paul also spent several years as a behavioral health counselor.

Paul is currently working on a Ph.D. in Social Justice and Transformational Change at Fielding
Graduate University. Previously, he completed all coursework for a Ph.D. in Human Resources
Development at Georgia State University. Paul earned his MS in HRD (adult learning/instructional design) from Georgia State University and his BS in Business Administration from Stetson University. He has also studied international business, social
programs, and political science at the Eckerd College undergraduate program in London, UK
and completed a Graduate fellow at The Anthropology Film Institute in Santa Fe, NM.

In his academic career, Paul’s research has focused on organizational culture, transformation,
and learning organizations. His work is particularly informed by socio-technical systems, cultural
anthropology, psychology, and spirituality. Paul is a qualitative researcher and applies
ethnographic methodology and grounded theory to his data collection and analysis processes.
Currently, Paul’s primary interest is working with organizations do develop innovative and
transformational cultures at the enterprise, functional, team, and individual levels. Paul
provides consultative design and implementation services, facilitates Business Driven Action
Learning programs, and facilitates programs with community groups to deeply enrich personal
authenticity towards meaningful social impact.