Paul Dionne

With training in cultural anthropology and business, Paul Dionne brings a wealth of strategic-level thinking, research design, execution, and translation skills to Filene’s research team as the Research Director.

After falling in love with anthropology during his undergraduate studies in film/video at Middlebury College in Vermont, Paul went on to pursue graduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Cultural Anthropology, reaching ABD status with a research focus on international development and agricultural cooperatives in Indonesia.

Looking to apply his anthropological lens to consumer finance, Paul took his MBA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and gleefully learned about balance sheets, finance, strategy, and marketing as he honed his leadership skills to better support credit unions.

Paul joined Filene after working at Beloit College, most recently as their Associate Director of Student Success, Equity, and Inclusion. In this and other roles at Beloit College he supported DEI initiatives, government and foundation relations, sponsored research, and retention strategies to increase student success and graduation rates.

Paul is thrilled to be working with an organization supporting cooperative finance and financial inclusion, and he enjoys guiding new academic research tailored for credit unions.

Although a Canadian at heart, Paul has said he always felt he was destined to end up in Beloit, WI. He lives there with his wife, two children, and yellow lab. Paul enjoys traveling with his family, cooking traditional French Canadian food like tourtiere, and running long distances. See more of Paul on LinkedIn.