Richard Van Doel is the founder and president of the Indiana Center for Employee Ownership, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide education and advocacy on employee ownership in Indiana. He is a published researcher on stewardship governance and culture within employee-owned companies and serves as the board chair for Performance Validation, a 100% S-Corp ESOP.

Richard obtained his PhD from Indiana Wesleyan University in the discipline of Organizational Leadership. His dissertation topic Exploring Stewardship Characteristics in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Employee-Owned Companies examined the influence of stewardship on employee owned governance and firm productivity. He was awarded a Louis O. Kelso Fellowship from the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University. Rick brings more than 40 years of experience in military, for profit and nonprofit leadership. He is a US Navy veteran, having retired as a Chief Warrant Officer (1993). In 2018, Richard lead the conversion of Performance Validation to a 100% S-Corp ESOP. After 28 years of service, Richard retired as President of Performance Validation.