Meet Susie Smith
In
1991, Susie began working at FFI as World Citizens Exchange Coordinator
(this program was the precursor of Bridgebuilders). When the Friend-to-Friend
humanitarian exchange program began with the former Soviet Union, Susie
moved to Moscow and worked as Regional Representative for 18 months.
Then, long-time Director of Operations Bobbie Jones, an early mentor to
Susie, moved to Singapore in 1993, and encouraged the Board to appoint
Susie as the organization's next Director of Operations. As part of
FFI's senior management team, Susie gained invaluable experience and
insights into the unique challenges and rewards of exchange operations.
During the next three years, Susie worked daily with the exchange
coordinators and the entire operations support team, i.e. travel,
finance, membership, development and club training, to ensure the
success of volunteer-led exchanges around the world. By
the mid-1990's, the Bridgebuilders exchanges which Susie helped pioneer
while in Russia, were growing stronger in number around the world. Susie
proposed the formation of the Bridgebuilders Department which could
handle the many FFI programs beyond individual club exchanges. As
Director of Bridgebuilders, Susie developed and managed special interest
Bridgebuilders exchanges, Friendship Festivals, and grant-funded
programs such as "Sisters Embracing a Dream," a month-long
training program for women from the former In
1998, Susie decided it was the right time to pursue a long-held dream.
She entered graduate school in California to study cross-cultural
psychology in-depth. She purposefully moved her focus away from the
daily management of Friendship Force to gain new and different
perspectives of cross-cultural interactions. Since moving to California
in 1998, Susie earned her M.A. in Psychology and added immeasurably to
her non-profit management experience. During graduate school, Susie
worked as Administrative Manager for the World Without War Council and a
Crisis Specialist for Managed Health Network. Most recently, Susie has
gained two years of professional fundraising experience as
Administrative & Executive Affairs Manager of The Yosemite Fund, a
San Francisco based non-profit which raises approximately $4 million
annually to benefit Yosemite National Park. Susie is eager to apply her
recent fundraising, administrative and cross-cultural psychology skills
and experiences to the success of Friendship Force International. 404.522.9490 404.688.6148
fax |
Ms.
Susie Smith has been actively involved with The Friendship Force since
its inception in 1977. At that time, Susie was a high school student who
traveled to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England, on the very first Friendship
Force exchange. Susie began to learn the basic elements of Friendship
Force international operations as she worked in the office throughout
high school and college. Upon graduation from Presbyterian College with
a BS in Political Science, Susie worked as a paralegal for five years.
However, The Friendship Force was too much in her heart to stay away for
long. Over the next decade, Susie dedicated her full-time efforts to
help bring people of different cultures together in friendship.