How We Work

Susan Heinlein, President and Founding Partner

Susan is a strategist and trusted partner to CEOs, senior executives, and boards who need strategy to move from ideas to transformational results.

• Combines deep business knowledge with masterful facilitation to cut through complexity, challenge safe thinking, prioritize competing efforts and align teams to move forward together
• Drives strategy to execution, cross-functional problem solving, and high performing teams & culture across medical device, pharmaceutical, technology, semi-conductor, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, construction, financial services, insurance, professional services, B2B services, and non-profit organizations
• Innovates leadership development programs to develop skills needed for today’s environment: Co-created Finance Reimagined™ to move finance teams from supporting the business to shaping the business’ future, becoming partners who drive impact
• Brings more than three decades of experience leading transformation as an external consultant and as a senior executive at Honeywell, GE and Ameriprise Financial; holds Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification

Susan leads with empathy, is direct, and is grounded in what it takes to run a business. She co-founded Bamboo Partners in 2010 with the mission of blending her business experience and facilitation expertise to make the hard work of transformation feel energizing, rather than exhausting.

Susan lives in Minnesota with her husband, two sons and dog, Tito. She serves on the board of directors for Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota.

Marian Powell, Partner Emeritus and Founding Partner

Marian is an expert at helping people work together on breakthrough ideas that drive results, which comes from more than four decades of experience working with some of the world’s greatest companies and top business leaders in the world.

• Co-founded Bamboo Partners in 2010 and moved into the role of Partner Emeritus in 2025. Currently co-developing Finance Reimagined™, drawing on her experience coaching executives and managers to enhance their leadership and performance
• Fuses real life experience and business knowledge with a conversational style and probing questions to draw out the best thinking from leaders and their teams
• Brings senior-executive expertise from GE where she held roles in sales, marketing, product management, communications, operations, quality, and human resources

Marian’s industry-leading Client Advisory Boards, new techniques in customer loyalty research, and application of Six Sigma to the selling process were adopted across GE. Her innovative approach to developing online customer workflow tools was honored with awards from CIO Magazine and the Data Warehouse Institute. She is a Six Sigma Certified Black Belt with deep expertise in change management.

Marian lives in Montana with her husband, horses, goats, ponies, and dogs. She’s an artist and a graphic scribe (i.e., captures spoken content in real-time from meetings and translates this into illustrations and visual maps).

Leah Schultz, Partner

Leah partners with senior leaders and their teams to enable them to move from strategic intent to sustained organizational performance.

• Brings a rare combination of enterprise‑level operating experience and deep expertise in leadership effectiveness
• Known for being an exceptional communicator and building workplaces where people want to build their careers
• Surfaces what’s in the way, strengthens shared ownership, and helps leaders shift to a culture by design rather than a culture by default for global businesses and organizations across B2B, professional services, manufacturing, marketing communications, human services, and nonprofits
• Leads transformation: Brought together disparate enabling functions into a coordinated corporate operations team with a strong unifying vision, strategic priorities, and operating structure that resulted in a 12% increase in internal partner satisfaction scores in one year
• Holds three decades of setting vision, defining strategic direction, driving organizational performance, and building positive cultures in global organizations and functions such as finance, technology, HR, business operations, marketing, and commercial business units, including 18 years with Thomson Reuters

Leah is an International Coaching Federation certified executive coach recognized for her calm, grounded presence and ability to facilitate candid, high‑stakes conversations. She finds joy in raising two daughters, engaging in health and fitness activities, and leading volunteer activities at her local church.

Tricia Sundeen, Finance Reimagined™ Program Director

Tricia is an innovative leader who helps organizations turn customer insights into market-ready solutions that deliver remarkable results.

• Leads product development for Finance Reimagined™, Bamboo Partners’ leadership development program that changes how finance teams partner with the business to shape outcomes, drive growth, and connect their work to bigger goals
• Combines analytical thinking, disciplined processes, and strong collaboration to help people see the path forward, then builds momentum from concept through execution to deliver organic growth
• Brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in strategy, innovation, product management, and marketing for globally recognized B2B brands, where she led cross-functional teams to translate customer insights into market-ready products ranging from websites to complex products like industrial robots and vehicles

Resilient and curious by nature, Tricia leads with compassion for people and is energized by complex challenges. She enjoys hiking with her dog, Frankie, reading books of all types, and travelling, especially when it includes time with her three daughters.