Susan Morris Shaffer

Susan Shaffer is currently the Vice-President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, Inc. a non-profit whose mission is to build the capacity of educational and community-based organizations to support low-income and culturally diverse children and their families. She serves as the Executive Director of the Maryland Parental Information and Resource Center (MD PIRC), a statewide organization that addresses issues of increasing family engagement to improve school success and student achievement. She has more than thirty-five years of professional training, management, consultation, teaching, and materials development experience in family engagement, gender equity and multicultural education. Her most recent projects include an appointment to Maryland's Superintendent's Parent Involvement Advisory Council and serving on the board of directors of the Maryland Women's Heritage Center and Harmony Through Education, an international NGO whose mission is to build schools in developing countries for children with disabilities.

Susan Shaffer is a member of the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group and has been a member of the Montgomery County, Maryland Commission for Women. She was invited to participate in "The White House Conference on Teenagers, 2000," hosted by President Clinton and First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the White House celebration of the 25th anniversary of Title IX, and the Congressional celebration of the 30th anniversary of Title IX. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including, under her leadership, the MD PIRC receiving "Certificates of Special Recognition" from Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski as well as from Rep. Steny Hoyer and MD state delegates and local county commissions and a 2009 Partnership Organization Award from the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) at Johns Hopkins University. The MD PIRC was recognized for making excellent progress in guiding districts and schools to develop comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships. Ms. Shaffer also was recognized by the American Educational Research Association Women's Education Award for the most significant contribution to curricular materials on women, the County Executive of Montgomery County Service Award, and the Maryland State Department of Education Recognition of Service to Maryland Women's History Award.

Susan Shaffer has co-authored with Linda Gordon books entitled, Why Boys Don't Talk and Why It Matters: A Parents Survival Guide to Connecting With Your Teen and Why Girls Talk and What They're Really Saying: A Parent's Survival Guide to Connecting With Your Teen (January 2005, McGraw Hill). They are also the co-authors of Mom, Can I Move Back in With You? A Survival Guide for Parents of Twentysomethings (April 2004, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam). Their newest book, Too Close for Comfort? Questioning the Intimacy of Today's New Mother-Daughter Relationship is available (2009, Berkley Publishing Group//Putnam). As a result of this work, the authors have spoken to parent groups and educators nationally, and they have been the subject of numerous interviews and articles in print, radio and television.

In addition, Ms. Shaffer has authored and co-authored several publications related to equity, parenting, women's history, disability, and multicultural education. These publications include, Safe Boys-Safe Schools in the WEEA Digests series; Women's Journeys, Women's Stories: In Search of our Multicultural Future; Beyond Title IX: Gender Equity Issues in Schools; "She Bakes and He Builds: Gender Bias in the Curriculum," in Double Jeopardy: Addressing Gender Issues in Special Education Services; and "Race, Gender, Class and Identity," in Improving Schools for African American Students: A Reader for Educational Leaders.