Susan J. Ellis Biographical Summary

Susan J. Ellis is President of Energize, Inc., a training, consulting, and publishing firm that specializes in volunteerism. She founded the Philadelphia-based company in 1977 and since that time has assisted clients throughout North America (48 states and 6 provinces), Europe (9 countries), Asia (4 countries), Latin America (2 countries), Australasia (2 countries), and Israel to create or strengthen their volunteer corps.

Susan is the author or co-author of twelve books, including From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Volunteer Program Success and The Volunteer Recruitment (and Membership Development) Book - several of which have been translated into Japanese, Taiwanese, French, and Italian. Her books can be found in the online bookstore. From 1981 to 1987 she was Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Volunteer Administration. She has written more than 120 articles on volunteer management for dozens of publications and writes the national bi-monthly column, "On Volunteers," for The NonProfit Times.

Susan is committed to exploring the potential of cyberspace for the volunteer field.  The Energize Web site (www.energizeinc.com) has won international recognition as a premier resource for volunteer program leaders and includes an online bookstore selling over 80 titles in electronic form. She co-authored The Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, which is available for free download on the Energize Web site. In 2000, she and Steve McCurley launched the field's first online journal, e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community, www.e-volunteerism.com, for which she serves as editor. And in 2005, Susan and Betty Stallings introduced the Everyone Ready® program, providing electronic staff development in volunteer management for national organizations.

She was the recipient of the Association for Volunteer Administration's 1989 Harriet Naylor Distinguished Member Service Award. The BetterWorldHeroes Web site has included her on their calendar of "heroes" for December 5 (International Volunteer Day).  Susan is an active volunteer in a variety of volunteerism associations and several Philadelphia-based community groups.

You can e-mail Susan at:

Last updated: February 2008

Full Bibliography of Susan's Writing

Places You Can See Susan

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