Meet the Team

Much of Susan’s career portfolio relates to logistics, project management, marketing, and event coordination. She has experience working and living in the United States, The Netherlands, Rwanda and South Africa. She holds a Masters of Public Administration in Public and Non-Profit Policy and Management from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from San Francisco State University. In terms of caregiving, Susan’s mother, Flossie, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in late 2014. Susan was living in NYC at the time and was a long distance caregiver for 4 years before making the decision to move back to San Diego to be a more present and productive advocate for her mom. During her time in NYC, she was a participant in a caregiver support group through the Caring Kind organization. The group helped her to process grief, validate her feelings, but most importantly, made her feel less isolated and alone. When she got back to San Diego, she didn’t feel a connection with any groups available there, so she partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association (San Diego/Imperial County Chapter) to start and facilitate her own group. The group started in January 2019 and continues today. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Daniel had the idea to expand Susan’s support group by starting a podcast support group in order to reach more people who may need help and who aren’t able to seek support in person due to the quarantine restrictions at the time. Daniel and Susan partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association again and released their first episodes in November 2020. For Susan, the podcast is another way to channel her grief over losing her mom in this unbelievably cruel way and also a way of expressing all the unexpressed love she has for her. The podcast is where she shares that love and expresses her grief with other caregivers who are experiencing something similar. Her mom isn’t “here” in the way she was before but she can still honor her through this podcast and use it as a way to heal or at least try, even for a few moments. And hopefully heal other caregivers too just a little bit and allow them some grace and camaraderie in the midst of this immense tragedy.