The
time is always right to
do what is right.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Susan Ives
Principal, Communications for Change
By creating connections, mapping strategies, and fostering collaboration, Susan applies her skills and experience to communications for change—building awareness, support, and momentum for organizations and activists working for a better world.
A native of Detroit, and graduate of University of Michigan and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the Coro Foundation of Northern California, Susan has worked for government and national and grassroots organizations.
As Vice President and Director of Public Affairs for the Trust for Public Land for 14 years, Susan formulated the organization’s “land for people” brand. She launched a national magazine, Land&People, and produced numerous reports and media campaigns on issues affecting parks, drinking water, Native American lands, and urban landscapes. Susan has been instrumental in bringing attention to artists, writers, and activists whose work explores relationships of land, community, and nature.
In the early 1990s, Susan helped launch the Green Belt Movement International—a U.S.-based extension of Kenya’s tree planting movement, founded by Professor Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
While serving as deputy to the Secretary of Environmental Affairs, Susan advanced a settlement strategy for a federal lawsuit over pollution in Boston Harbor that led to creation of the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, which makes grants for environmental education and restoration.
During a critical time for environmental policy, Susan served as press officer at Sierra Club headquarters where she coached spokespersons and trained local activists in working with the media.
Susan has served on boards of directors and as advisor to numerous organizations including: Environmental Federation of California, Greenbelt Movement International, Heyday Institute, Marin Conservation League, Marin Suicide Prevention Center, National Women’s Political Caucus of Marin, Resource Renewal Institute, River of Words, San Francisco Friends of the Urban Forest, Save the Bay, Wildcat Canyon Ranch Youth Program, and Women in Environmental Leadership (WELL Network).