The Inspiring Journey of Susan Beaird in Foundation Leadership
With a wealth of experience behind her, Personal Coach Susan Beaird brings integrity to the mission of the Foundation Industry using innovative and inspirational methods. Susan’s coaching values are empowering and growth-oriented and give recognition to those striving for wholeness while keeping their establishment on task.
As founder and president, she developed Lickskillet Plantation, Shreveport, Louisiana, into one of the top two commercial Thoroughbred breeding operations in the region. She is the only woman ever elected as Director of the Louisiana Breeders Association.
As an insider for many years, Susan is very familiar with the public and internal sides of Foundation life. She served three years as a Board Member for the Social Services Division, National Board of the Presbyterian Church, US, and has served as chairperson for numerous fund-raising activities ranging from the arts to political campaigns.
As Development Director of Clear Spring School, an independent elementary school in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, she promoted progress by increasing enrollment from 10 to 65 students and establishing a five-acre campus where there was no permanent facility.
As a Colorado resident from 1989 to 1998, she worked for the Women’s Foundation of Colorado as an Interim Development Associate and as a Team Leader of the Grants Selection Committee, NW Sector, with duties including on-site visitations, analysis and evaluation of proposals, and preparation of final recommendations to the Board. She founded and served as Executive Director of a non-profit, Women’s Home Improvement, which trained low-income women in construction skills.
She is currently a Director of the Charles T. and Carolyn W. Beaird Family Foundation, where she works closely with grants and needs assessments for low-income neighborhoods and families. She has completed an on-site needs assessment for Ledbetter Heights, a low-income, high-crime rate housing project located in Shreveport, where she facilitated the creation of a Resident’s Association for greater local control and better access to the Mayor’s office and other city agencies.
Her coaching focuses on personal and group dynamics, individual and program values, and responsibilities to staff, customers, and the community. She is a member of the International Coaching Federation, a graduate of Coach University (CoachU).
She is a 1994 graduate of the Denver Community Leadership Forum, and she currently volunteers with the Women’s Foundation of Greater Memphis and the Metropolitan InterFaith Association (MIFA).
Her education includes a BA in Political Science from Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee; graduate studies in Business Administration at LSU Shreveport, Louisiana; and Art History at SMU, Dallas.