Susan Hyatt is Founder and CEO of Core Thought, a private consulting company that provides companies with ideas and tools for actively managing their social responsibility, community impacts and giving strategies. Leveraging 20 years of experience in corporate social responsibility, business philanthropy, organizational development, and nonprofit resource development and partnerships, Susan helps clients transform their good intentions into real impact in their communities and on their bottom line. Her clients have included CARE, Habitat for Humanity, Save the Children, Pathfinder International, Heifer International, the US Agency for International Development, and dozens of businesses and local, state, and national agencies.

Susan specializes in social program development and the social impact metrics. She also conducts community involvement audits, facilitates strategic planning to integrate community and business goals, and designs unique all-win community involvement initiatives. She loves clients who are motivated by the business value created by social responsibility and are committed to Doing Good AND Doing Well.

Susan previously worked extensively with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) for fourteen years providing consulting, facilitation, curriculum design, and training to Governors’ Commissions on National and Community Service, AmeriCorps, VISTA, Learn and Serve America, and Senior Corps (FGP, SCP, and RSVP). She’s created state and national programs on topics such as leadership, board development, performance management, program evaluation, and strategic public-private and trisector partnerships.

Susan holds a Master’s degree in Community/Public Health Nutrition with a specialization in international development from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She completed her PhD work in Sociology at Colorado State University in social change and organization development. She was a Fulbright Scholar to the Sociology Department at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and an AAAS Science, Engineering and Diplomacy Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, DC.  She is also a certified professional effectiveness coach. Susan lives in Denver, Colorado and proudly drives a Prius.

“Be the Change You Want to See in the World”

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Selected Experience and Skills

Corporate Social Responsibility/Business Philanthropy

• 10 years experience providing training (live, webinars, and telephone), speaking, and coaching on pubic-private partnerships and how to develop strategic partnerships between businesses and NGO/nonprofit organizations that go beyond cash donations, including community involvement as a core component of CSR, and the metrics and measurement of impact,
• Conducted research of thought leaders from 50+ companies concerning their company’s community involvement, links to business goals and types of programming.
• Background in employee volunteer program creation and management, cause marketing, and grant making systems design and management.
• 2 years on steering committee of Colorado’s People, Planet, Profit (formerly BSR affiliate).
• Background in sustainability, international environmental standards and policy-making, reducing carbon footprint, and the triple bottom line.
• Conference attendance, exhibitor, and/or organizational membership in Social Venture Partners, Social Venture Network, Business for Social Responsibility, BALLE, Co-op America (now Green America), Green Festivals, and the Green Business Conference.
• Author of forthcoming book on strategic business philanthropy and blogger at http://www.businessgivingstrategies.com.  Featured as expert on business philanthropy in Entrepreneur Magazine and Business Week.

Partnership Development

• 10 years experience providing training (live, webinars, and telephone), speaking, and coaching on how to develop strategic partnerships between businesses and NGO/nonprofit organizations.
• Spearheaded and facilitated local grassroots processes for community development and enhancing communication, cooperation, and collaboration among community-based organizations, governmental agencies, and the private/business sector in the US and internationally.
• Facilitated resource development planning processes including needs and strategies for securing resources for more than 25 organizations.
• Designed and facilitated planning processes to strengthen service and volunteerism at the state level through collaboration and partnerships between state and federal government agencies, national service programs, the traditional volunteer sector, volunteer centers, educational institutions, and the business community.  (MI, TX, CO, OR, WA, NH, NM, LA, AZ)
• Designed and conducted think tank for representatives from 8 states engaged in developing a multistate-state literacy program pilot in collaboration with the Target Corporation.
• Author of Designing Strategic Partnerships with Businesses: A Nonprofit Toolkit, now in its 4^th edition.

Organization Development

• 13 years experience conducting needs assessment and analysis of organizational processes at NGOs/nonprofit organizations and government agencies to identify strengths, gaps and issues and propose solutions in order to increase effectiveness.
• Served on three administrative standards review teams for Governors’ Commissions on National and Community Service – team leader for two reviews.  Assisted with standards review preparation for four additional states.
• Developed online resource portal on effective management of state service commissions and national AmeriCorps program grantees for the Corporation for national and Community Service.
• Planned and conducted nonprofit and government program staff retreats for action planning and teamwork enhancement for more than 30 organizations.
• Planned, designed curricula/materials and conducted board development training and retreats for all 50 Governors’ Commissions on National and Community Service including new commissioner orientation, board development, clarification of board/staff roles and responsibilities, and identification of committees.
• Planned and conducted organizational strategic planning processes, meetings to enhance interagency coordination and cooperation, statewide planning processes, and special cross-state and organization initiatives for more than 15 organizations.
• Facilitated seven Community Dialogues (in TX, OH, MI, CA, IN, and LA) with CEO, National Board Members, and Senior Staff of the Corporation for National and Community Service for the development of their 5 year strategic plan.  Developed online and paper stakeholder input tools, evaluation form, and reporting formats.  Processed and summarized collected data.

Service and Volunteerism

• 20 years experience with service and volunteer programming with NGOs/nonprofits, government agencies, volunteer centers, and businesses. 
• Experienced in development of grant strategy development, RFPs, grant guidance, outreach, proposal review, peer review processes and tools, grant award negotiation, grant management, monitoring, and compliance review, reporting, performance measurement and evaluation, and close out.
• 13 years as a Training and Technical Assistance Manager for governor-appointed state service commissions nationally promoting use of service and volunteerism as a solution to local issues.
• Served as Affiliate Faculty for at the National Service Leadership Institute at the Presidio, San Francisco.
• Consultant and trainer on volunteer recruitment, training, management, and recognition
• Primary responsibility for planning and conducting 15+ regional and national board development institutes for governor-appointed commissioners to state service commissions and members of national and multistate nonprofit boards on catalyzing service and volunteerism as a solution to local issues, stewardship, roles and responsibilities of board members, effective outreach and public relations, and legislative education.

Metrics and Social Impact

• 20 years experience internationally and within the U.S. designing metrics, data collection systems and tools, and conducting evaluations to measure the social impact of federal and state, grants and cooperative agreements, foundation grants, and nonprofit programming.
• 15 years experience training and coaching nonprofit and government agency staff in designing metrics/performance measures to capture annual program outputs and outcomes.  Provided intensive one-on-one assistance to over 300 nonprofit programs throughout the U.S. on designing data collection instruments and systems, conducting data aggregation and analysis and using results for reporting to funders and other stakeholders.
• Developed national performance measures for AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and its five campuses throughout the U.S. for program management and reporting to Congress.
• Designed training curricula/materials and provided statewide and multistate training in 43 states to over 6,000 nonprofit staff on needs assessment, performance measurement, and evaluation.
• Assisted Save the Children in developing evaluation procedures, tools, and systems to measure the impact of their U.S.-based programming.  Coached the Appalachian Region staff and programs during initial two years of implementation.
• Designed and conducted evaluations for local, national and international nonprofit and government clients including Indiana AmeriCorps and the Indiana Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Diplomacy Fellows Program, National Science Foundation, Library of Congress, National Crime Prevention Council’s Teens, Crime and Community Program, Denver District Attorney’s Juvenile Diversion Program, OJJDP-funded Youth For Justice Program, and USAID-funded AVSC Family Planning Program.

International Affairs and Development

• Designed comprehensive postpartum family planning project for USAID/Jordan.  Conducted social soundness, women in development, and environmental analyses for Project Paper.  Developed $11 million budget and financial analysis.  Developed and analyzed questionnaire survey of public and private hospitals in Jordan.  Coordinated, wrote, and edited Project paper and presented findings to USAID Mission and Jordanian Government officials.
• Project Manager/CTO for $32 million USAID Cooperative Agreement with CARE.
• AAAS Science, Engineering and Diplomacy Fellow, Offices of Population and Science and Technology Grants, U.S. Agency for International Development for two years.
• Fulbright Scholar to University of Helsinki, Finland
• Established and facilitated working group of internal aid agencies/NGOs operating in Haiti on issues of maternal and child nutrition (including Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, and Seventh Day Adventist World Services).
• SECID Fellowship to USAID Haiti to work on maternal and child nutrition issues and P.L. 480 Food Assistance.
• Educational background in disaster services, international development, agricultural economics, farming systems, international health and nutrition, and urban planning.
• M.S. Degree in International Public Health Nutrition from Virginia Tech.  Conducted Master’s thesis research in Haiti on street foods and their role in the diet of secondary school students.
• Designed and conducted survey of 1800 organizational leaders to research the role of women in administration in Finland.
• Exchange Student to Finland, AFS Intercultural Programs
• Work experience in 13 countries and U.S. Territories (Finland (2.5 years), Haiti (4 mos), Jordan (2 mos), Pakistan, Turkey, Tunisia, Philippines, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, American Samoa and Guam).  Travel to 20 other countries (Scotland, England, Spain, Norway, Germany, former East Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Guatemala, Peru, India, Australia, Vietnam, Samoa, Estonia, former USSR, Japan, Mexico, Canada.
• Member of Institute for International Education – Rocky Mountain Region.

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