Susan grew up in Great Falls, Virginia, and first traveled to Ethiopia in 2007. Since 2007, Susan has returned to Ethiopia every year and has built strong partnerships with the local church, which has facilitated the foundational work of Three Roots. She has lived in Africa, led short-term teams to Africa, Europe, and Asia, and holds a Master’s degree in International Education and Development, focusing on marginalized communities. Having worked in the education and nonprofit sectors for fourteen years – at World Vision, World Relief, and International Justice Mission – Susan now leads the Three Roots team by developing organizational vision and operational strategy and works collaboratively with the Three Roots Country Director on programmatic implementation in the field. Susan enjoys traveling and photographing the people and places she sees along the way.

Three Roots is building on existing relationships with the local community in Ethiopia. The Leadership Team has nearly fifteen years of experience working in the same communities with many of the same people. We began Three Roots International to support and expand the work of the local church while providing skilled partnerships to free families from the suffering of extreme poverty. We are highly committed to building local leadership capacity, and 100% of our field staff are nationals.

True sustainability is only possible when the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors within a community support its continued development. We are relentlessly focused on increasing community ownership throughout the life of a project so that community leaders can transition into full support of project activities.