Susan Olesek

Susan Olesek is an unapologetic idealist, a Human Potentialist in passionate pursuit of what is possible for people. Born outside of Boston, raised in Hong Kong and Japan, and educated in England and California, she earned a BA in Sociology from Occidental College and has cultivated a compassionate interest in human behavior during her lifetime.

Susan brings her conviction that there is something inherently “good” in people to anyone in her presence. During her 15 years of developing self-awareness training for Fortune 500 executives, corporate teams, schools, and those experiencing incarceration, she became known for her compassionate approach to the Enneagram. In 2012 she founded Enneagram Prison Project (EPP): a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to the self-awareness education of people who are incarcerated, now scaling around the globe.

While working with wildly diverse groups of people using the same insightful tool, Susan became convinced that the Enneagram has always been meant for everyone. In 2019, she founded The Human Potentialists (THP) a Benefit Corporation with a vision to democratize the Enneagram, and whose mission is guiding people to their highest potential while connecting them to the core of our shared humanity. THP is dedicated to doing business for good.

Susan lives in the Santa Cruz mountains with her husband who is EPP’s Executive Director, along with their three children, 12 chickens, and 3 cats.