OUAZ Student Services | Ottawa University

Meet the Adawe Mentors

Chet Keizer, Adawe Center Director

Before landing in Surprise, AZ, Chet's corporate career sent him around the globe. He most recently spent 21 years with a prominent Japanese global consumer products manufacturer (fourteen of them as President of North American operations). After retiring in 2018, Chet and his wife relocated to Arizona from Wisconsin where they had lived their entire lives. Now, with some of his four children and nine grandchildren often in tow, Chet takes full advantage of the incredible Arizona weather, flying throughout the region in his small airplane.

Chet came to OUAZ in 2018. He first advised students in the Business Club as Executive in Residence. He was then asked to manage a team in Admissions. Currently, he serves as Director of the Adawe LifePlan Center. At OUAZ, Chet is fulfilling his dream of helping young people discover and maximize their true God-given gifts.

Alicia Engel, Adawe Mentor

Alicia joined the OUAZ Surprise Adawe Center as a Mentor in January 2020. However, she first came to OUAZ in Fall of 2019 as “Professor Engel”, a faculty member with Ottawa's Angell Snyder School of Business. Alicia holds a Global MBA (Master of International Management) from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Master’s in Education.

Alicia’s career story blends her three favorite things: business, education, and travel. With experience in Fortune 500 global operations, secondary education, management consulting and alumni relations, she brings a variety of career experience to share with OUAZ Surprise students. Alicia has served in youth ministry (teaching and camps), taught at-risk adults, and traveled internationally for work, ministry, school, and (of course) tourism. In fact, the photo to the left shows her outside of a castle in Prague, The Czech Republic, in Fall 2016.

Sharon Gipe, Adawe Mentor

Sharon joined OUAZ in August 2020 after relocating to Phoenix from Denver, CO, to enjoy the mild Arizona winters. Sharon has spent many years mentoring and advising students in higher education, and is now excited to work with the OUAZ Surprise community. In the past, she worked with young people at youth camps and with Young Life, and volunteered for many years with youth and women’s ministries at her church in Denver. Sharon brings a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Colorado Christian University and a passion for helping students achieve their personal and academic goals.

When not at work, you can usually find Sharon rooting for teams across her favorite sports: baseball, football, and hockey being her top three. That’s when she’s not reading biographies or historical fiction. Sharon also greatly enjoys outdoor activities like walking and riding her bike.