Lisa Hall Zielinski

Lisa Hall Zielinski serves as Director of The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center (SBDC), leading no-cost consulting services for entrepreneurs across eight Northeastern Pennsylvania counties while teaching leadership and management as an adjunct faculty member. Her expertise spans family business dynamics, nonprofit management, and community-focused business development initiatives.

Her professional interests center on practical small business growth strategies, with emphasis on international trade expansion, leadership development, and organizational resilience. As a certified SBA Intermediate Level Export and Trade Counselor, she actively shapes trade policy through the PA SBDC International Trade Committee and national SBDC education frameworks.

Recent publications demonstrate her applied approach to business challenges, addressing timely topics like holiday marketing optimization, disaster-proofing operations, and structural decisions between for-profit and nonprofit models for emerging ventures.

Award recognitions include:

• 2024 Pennsylvania SBDC Director of the Year
• Northeast PA Business Journal’s Top 25 Women in Business

Through the SBDC, she oversees consulting teams that secure resources and navigate regulatory landscapes for hundreds of local businesses annually, while contributing to statewide economic development through committee leadership on America’s SBDC Professional Development & Education Committee.

She directs the University of Scranton SBDC’s eight-county operational network, coordinating specialized teams in export counseling, business continuity planning, and startup incubation programs that serve Northeastern Pennsylvania’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.