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During her 13 years of service as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, the organization’s revenue has grown from approximately $600,000 to nearly $1.7 million and membership numbers have doubled. Our core programs, including National Conference, OPDI, and NHSDA, experienced significant growth in both participation and revenue. Several new offerings were established during Sue’s tenure, including our webinar series, guest blogger program, virtual summits, and our second scholarly journal, Dance Education in Practice. Under her direction, we launched the NDEO Priorities for Dance Education, a framework that guides the work we do as an organization with the goals of Building Knowledge, Connecting the Field, and Cultivating Leadership.

Sue helped to usher in an era of collaboration and community within the organization. A hallmark of Sue’s tenure was her willingness to listen and respond to NDEO members, staff, governance, and the field. Many of the initiatives Sue implemented or oversaw were created in response to the suggestion of NDEO members, including the Mentorship Programs and Affinity Groups. She implemented a culture of shared leadership between herself and the staff, which grew from 4 to 7 full-time employees to accommodate the expansion of our offerings.

Sue’s ability to respond to member needs and capitalize on staff members’ expertise is indicative of her commitment to fostering leadership in the field of dance education. In 2021, Sue initiated a multi-year plan for organizational and programmatic change to embody the organization’s commitment to making NDEO more equitable to all dance educators. This included a year-long audit of NDEO programs and organizational structure through the lens of justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a result of the audit and under Sue’s guidance, we have worked to increase the financial accessibility of our programs, increased accessibility measures, worked to increase our transparency as an organization, and facilitated the development and dissemination of programs and resources that help dance educators. These JDEI initiatives are embedded throughout our current 5-year strategic plan, ensuring that Sue’s commitment to these areas will have a lasting impact on the organization.

Sue’s impact is felt far beyond the organization, permeating through every sector of the field. She led NDEO in the development of many of our important national partnerships, including the Connected Arts Network and the Arts Education Alliance. On the state level, she worked with NDEO State Affiliates on issues of concern in their states, including teacher credentialing and professional development.  Locally, she implemented an innovative partnership between NDEO and Lorain City School District to create a district-wide dance program. She developed and taught many of our Online Professional Development Institute courses, helping to train the next generation of dance educators. She was instrumental in the development of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards in Dance, as NDEO’s liaison to the National Coalition of Core Arts Standards and leader of the standards writing team. She created a visionary Professional Development program to introduce the standards to the membership, including a series of OPDI courses, special topics conferences, and the NDEO’s first webinars.  

Prior to her work at NDEO, Sue founded and developed the dance program at Roger Williams Middle School in Rhode Island, which she directed for 28 years. This program’s unique approach to dance as a core subject in public education would come to serve as a model for future programs across the United States.

She went on to co-author 5 books with Helene Scheff and Marty Sprague: Building Dances: A Guide to Putting Movements Together, and a follow up Building More Dances; Exploring Dance Forms and Styles: A Guide to Concert, World, Social, and Historical Dance; Dance 麻豆视频直播 Anything; and Experiencing Dance: From Student to Dance Artist.

Following her retirement from Roger Williams, she served as adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University and California State University, Dominguez Hills. Her approach to dance education in K-12 schools has influenced generations of dance teachers, whose teaching practices have been informed by her books, her work as arts education consultant, and the countless professional development programs that she created and facilitated.

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Sue, the NDEO Staff, Board of Directors, Advisory Council, and Membership thank you for your many years of dedicated leadership and service. We are proud to continue moving the organization and field forward, inspired by your vision for the future. We will strive to bring dance education to all people, with your model of collaboration and community at the core of what we do.