Biography
Susan’s professional work started in the area of cognitive thinking working with children across all ages and needs. This led to extensive work in the education sector, which then crossed over into the not-for-profit and business sectors. Susan has excellent skills and deep experience in the areas of not-profit leadership, research partnerships, strategy, team building, innovation, design thinking and commercialisation. Susan has worked with employers and employees at all levels, from senior executives to illiterate workers. A large part of this work is designing ‘interventions’ that assist an organisation to become more productive and innovative and for its people to develop resilience, hope, and optimism through growth mindset, behaviour change and mindfulness.
Through the work as CEO of the de Bono Institute, Susan has refined her knowledge and expertise in two areas: (i) growing creativity skills to assist Australia in growing its knowledge economy for a sustainable future, and (ii) developing the ‘learnable intelligence’ of Australians as a mechanism to grow their potential, foster a growth mindset and gain the resilience to become creative thinkers, designers and leaders for the future.
Professionally, Susan is passionate about working with teams and organisations on their growth strategies to be innovative and sustainable. Susan cares deeply about the development of human potential and through this passion growing the learnable intelligence of every young person.
She has worked with and co-presented with Dr. Edward deBono (lateral thinking) and Prof. Carol Dweck (growth mindset) Susan believes that all teams can become more creative and adaptive. Her talks and seminars are designed to create and inspire in people a desire to re-consider how they see themselves, their environment and others.
She has appeared as an expert in the deBono tools on the ABC’s Redesign My Brain with Todd Sampson.
Having worked in not-for-profits since her 20’s she is keen to continue to support the sector through partnerships, board positions and contribution.
On a personal level, Susan loves supporting locally grown and made food, Melbourne fashion designers and clothes that are manufactured locally and ethically.
Susan considers herself a Melbournian, proud of her city and would want to live nowhere else.
