Susan has a broad background in community development and planning. With RBF's Urban Design Studio, she leads a team of talented group of planners and urban designers. Susan has a particular focus on community-based planning processes, developing innovative public participation programs for a myriad of project types, including downtown and neighborhood revitalization, comprehensive planning, mobility plans, and urban design projects. Before joining RBF's Urban Design Studio, Susan volunteered with the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa and with the AmeriCorps National Service Program in Kansas City. Additionally, she led several neighborhood-based planning projects for a Kansas City-based not-for-profit environmental organization involved in local sustainable development, transportation, and environmental justice. Susan has also worked with the State of Arizona as a community planning specialist, providing technical planning support and assistance to Arizona's rural and tribal communities.

Susan holds a Bachelor of Arts in both Architectural Studies and Environmental Studies from the University of Kansas, and a Master of Environmental Planning from Arizona State University. She is a registered planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), a LEED Accredited Professional, and a Certified Main Street Manager (CMSM) through the National Main Street Center, She has a Professional Certificate in Neighborhood Revitalization through the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks America) and a Certificate in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement from Fielding Graduate University. Most recently, she received an accreditation from the Congress for the New Urbanism, CNU-A.

Susan is the co-author of an APA Planners Advisory Service Report entitled Placemaking On A Budget and has presented at numerous conferences, including the American Planning Association National Conference, National Town Meeting on Main Street, New Partners for Smart Growth, Neighborhoods USA, and Arizona Governor's Rural Development Conference. She is currently on the faculty of University California Irvine where she teaches a graduate planning studio class and also serves as faculty of the CalState Fullerton University Extension Education program and the NeighborWorks® Training Institute. Susan serves on the board of H.O.M.E.S., Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable housing for people with mental illness. She also currently serves on the Equity and Affordability Technical Advisory Committee for ICLEI's STAR Community Index, a performance-based sustainability management system. Her passion has always been and continues to be to directly involve communities in protecting and improving their physical, natural, and social environments.