About Susan

Susan is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism and Speech Communications.  Shortly after graduating, Susan began her career and public service commitment in San Francisco.  Recognizing a need for one-time projects in order to increase volunteerism among young people, Susan founded San Francisco Street Project, a coalition of young working individuals and organizations who partnered to create weekend projects serving the homeless, AIDS patients, children, and the environment.   After a year and a half of living in India and Australia, Susan returned to San Francisco to serve four years on the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Volunteer Center.  She was elected Director of the Board in 1997 overseeing a significant budget increase and a focused collaborative effort between businesses and diverse communities.

Moving to Charlotte in 1999, Susan connected with the community in multiple areas.   As an active member of the Levine Museum of the New South’s board from 2002 to 2008, she served as Development Chair and as a member of the Endowment Task Force.  While serving three years on the Afro-American Cultural Center board, Susan developed and implemented a strategy to reshape and build the board. During this time she was an active member of the board's Executive Committee for the search, negotiation and design of the Harvey Gantt AACC building which is part of the Wachovia First Street Complex.

Susan also participated in Community Building Initiative’s Leadership Development Initiative (LDI), and in 2005 finished a nine month program focusing on racial and ethnic inclusion and equity. 

In 2001, Susan launched her professional career in photography, fulfilling a lifelong passion.  Susan has been photographing children and families throughout Mecklenburg County, with clients also in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and London.  Susan works primarily in black and white film, shooting on location or in her studio in historic South End.  It is the connection between people that is Susan’s inspiration and her photographs capture each individual’s uniqueness and inner beauty.

Susan is now bridging her civic involvement and her passion for photography through her social change photography work. “Lifeline to the Community” was her first project of this nature and shows how the Department of Social Services’ Senior Citizens Nutrition Program serves the needs of the growing number of elderly in our community. Susan is currently engaged in a project that will humanize and bring visibility to issues around affordable housing in Charlotte. “Voice, Vision and Documentation: A photography project documenting the working poor’s perspective on affordable housing” is being funded in part by the Arts and Science Council, Foundation for the Carolinas, and Crosland Group and will be completed in May 2009.

After living in San Francisco, Mumbai, India and Sydney, Australia, Susan, her husband, Peter, and their four children are happy to call Charlotte home.