Susan J. Ellis

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 the world (23 countries) to create or strengthen their volunteer corps. She has an international reputation as a passionate advocate for the power of volunteers and those who lead them.

Susan is the author or co-author of fourteen books, several of which have been translated into Japanese, Taiwanese, French, and Italian. 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; has posted a provocative “Hot Topic” essay on the Energize Web site monthly since 1997; and writes the national bi-monthly column, "On Volunteers," for The NonProfit Times (since 1990).

Energize’s comprehensive Web site has won international recognition as a premier resource for leaders of volunteers (www.energizeinc.com). Since 2000, she has been publishing editor of the field's first online journal, e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community (www.e-volunteerism.com ) and, since 2005, has been the dean of faculty for Energize's Everyone Ready® Online Volunteer Management Training Program (www.everyoneready.info ).