Joanne Osmond’s efforts in school board level governance have dramatically improved the dialog between our community, setting expectations for our school district and reporting the results from our administration back to the school board and community as a whole. Her leadership efforts have attained attention around the state of Illinois with many school districts now using this model, or a form of it, for their own local education governance initiatives.

Joanne devotes herself to many causes throughout our community, but her passion and leadership on our School District 41 School Board has made our schools fiscally sound and recognized for educational excellence throughout the State of Illinois. A report on the district can be reviewed – Lake Villa District 41 Overview.

Her expertise is in school governance and policy. Without sacrificing education and fiscal responsibility, Joanne has woven a systematic approach to school board responsibility that is true to the intent of a democratic government entity. Her strength is appreciated not only locally but also state-wide as she serves to represent the diverse population of students in Lake County. Lake Villa District 41 is one of a handful of schools that has been recognized twice with the IASB School Board Governance Recognition.

She is a well-loved instructor at the College of Lake County where she provides support for Small Business Development Center programs assisting entrepreneurs as they strive to reach their goals. Joanne has adapted the quality programs she learned at Abbott Laboratories to small businesses. Her objective is to help every small business develop a vision of what they can achieve as they stabilize their business through understanding financial reports, grow their business through effective target marketing, and innovate their operations by thinking out of the box.

Joanne is unafraid to take risks and seek inspiration

Joanne Osmond is a reformer and change agent. She has received several professional awards for transforming individuals and organizations. As an advisor and small business owner, Joanne works with the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the College of Lake County in assisting entrepreneurs move to the next level. In 2002, Joanne Osmond founded The Vision Tree, Ltd., to help women improve their business skills through coaching, workshop facilitation using Insights Programs as the foundation, and publishing self-help business books. She assists women by helping them publish their books, organizes networking groups, provides counseling at the Small Business Development Center at the College of Lake County, and facilitates classes and events for entrepreneurs.

She assists in developing and organizing business workshops including a series of online training courses for small business owners. The books she has authored and published cover business planning, Scouting, and a collection of stories about her daughter who has Down’s syndrome. Joanne is a frequent speaker in her community and at national conferences. She writes and speaks on topics such as “The Book Within You”, “Are You Ready to Start Your Own Business?”, “I’m listening. You’re listening. Why aren’t we communicating?”, and “Networking is More Than Showing Up.” In 2013, she and Claudia Pannell presented “SBDC New Global Classroom” at the annual ASBDC Conference.

She received the ATHENA Award in 2003 for assisting women in reaching their full leadership potential while demonstrating excellence, creativity, and initiative in her profession and providing valuable services to improve the quality of life for others in the community. In 2004, the Lake County, Illinois, media recognized her as one of the “Leaders in the Forefront” and in 2013, she was recognized as a Lake County Women of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.)<?span>

Joanne received a BS from Purdue University and an MBA and Masters in Information Systems from Webster University. Over her fifteen years at Abbott Laboratories, Joanne’s goal was operational excellence by developing the right organization, processes, and technology to provide consistent delivery of end-to-end customer support. Her leadership at Abbott’s Support Center resulted in receiving the Help Desk Institute’s Team Excellence Award in March 2000.

To fill a need in her community, Joanne founded Market Drafters in 2007 to provide Web hosting and design for small businesses and not-for-profit organizations. She ensures quality at a price they can afford by building sites from templates then assisting the owner in maintaining their own Web sites.

She is the recipient of the Boy Scout’s Silver Beaver Award and serves on the Council’s Executive Board as the Vice President of Membership. She has served on the Lake Villa Elementary School Board for over 20 years, elected to serve her eighteenth year on Lake’s Division of the IASB currently serving as the Director representing Lake County on the state association board. In addition, Joanne serves on the Special Education of Lake County Executive Board./span>

To reach Joanne Osmond, email her at jo.marketdrafters@gmail.com.