Sue has dedicated her professional life to working and volunteering within the nonprofit sector. She now uses this experience and expertise as an evaluator, writer, facilitator, and trainer for national, state, and local clients.
Sue demystifies and translates research–making it accessible and even exciting. She helps organizations collect and make meaning from their data to enhance organizational decisions. She is a dot connector, meaning maker, and storyteller.
A nationally-recognized expert on volunteer engagement, Sue has presented or facilitated sessions at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the National Park Service, Points of Light, the California League of Cities, the University of San Diego Governance Institute, and more. She teaches a graduate course on Strategic Volunteer Engagement at the University of San Diego. Her work has been featured in the Top 20 Ideas for 2020 in Volunteer Engagement, The Volunteer Management Report, the Sacramento Bee, and the San Diego Business Journal. She was named a Bold Woman by Girls Inc. of San Diego and selected as one of San Diego Magazine’s “40 under 40” Leaders.
An active volunteer, she is an executive coach for nonprofit leaders through the Fieldstone Leadership Network, facilitates regional volunteer efforts in San Diego, and served two terms as a state commissioner with CaliforniaVolunteers.
Sue has a PhD in Leadership from the University of San Diego. Her dissertation, Making the Invisible Visible: Capturing the Multidimensional Value of Volunteerism to Nonprofit Organizations, articulated the diverse contributions that volunteers make to nonprofits. She has a Master’s in Social Work Administration and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management. She also is a facilitator with the Center for Courage and Renewal.