Dean Niewolny

Vice President, Strategic Engagement

Phone: (205) 313-9142

Email: dniewolny@oneascent.com

About Dean

Dean Niewolny serves as Vice President of Strategic Engagement. In his role, he serves families alongside OneAscent advisors, equipping them to utilize their time, talent, and treasure to best live out their God-given callings. Dean has extensive experience equipping high-capacity leaders and a heart to serve people well and help them understand how to play their part in the Kingdom. 

Dean spent 23 years in executive roles with three of Wall Street’s largest financial firms, finishing his career in the financial sector as a market manager for Wells Fargo Advisors in Chicago, where he oversaw a $100mm market. While in Chicago, he and his wife, Lisa, traveled many times to Africa, and seeing the abject needs of widows and orphans made life changes that enabled them to get involved, such as helping to complete an orphan home and a hospice home in Durbin, South Africa. 

In 2010, Dean left his marketplace career to help more people who, like him, wanted to expand their own first-half success and skills into passion and purpose for meeting human needs and making a significant difference. Dean joined the Halftime Institute as Managing Director and in 2011 became Chief Executive Officer. In 2021, after 11 years of faithful service, Dean stepped into the role of Chairman of the Board and Halftime Ambassador. He spoke at events around the world, encouraging business leaders to channel first half achievement into a second half defined by joy, impact, and balance. 

In 2017, Dean authored his first book, Trade Up: How to Go From Just Making Money to Making A Difference. In it, Dean shares candidly about his personal transition into a second half of meaning and significance and the learnings of the Halftime Institute over 20 years of helping marketplace leaders do the same. Trade Up is available on Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, and Barnes&Noble.com. 

Having grown up playing sports—eventually in college and semi-professional baseball—Dean still enjoys coaching his son and attending his games. He and Lisa and their two children live in Southlake, Texas.