Susan is the Founder and Director of specialist arts charity Magic Me.
Susan graduated in Graphic Design in 1981 and worked for four years for an international design agency before moving into community arts practice and management. In 1986 she met Kathy Levin Shapiro, founder of US intergenerational charity Magic Me, and intrigued by the idea of creative work linking young and older people, began a period of practical research in Tower Hamlets and two other London Boroughs. Following the success of this pilot phase, Susan recruited a team of committed Trustees and in 1989 founded Magic Me as a UK charity.
Building a strong team of artists and practitioners, Susan has pioneered intergenerational arts practices and experimental creative projects, engaging individuals and partner groups – care homes, schools, cultural organisations – to combat social isolation and build community. Based in the culturally diverse community of Tower Hamlets, Magic Me has grown a rich body of innovative work connecting people across generations and from different ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds. Since 2017, Magic Me has grown new partnerships and projects with arts, care and local government partners across Essex.
Susan has led the development of Magic Me for more than 35 years and is a nationally recognised specialist in intergenerational work. By invitation she has also provided training and consultancy UK-wide, in Ireland, Poland and for the British Council in Brazil and South Korea.
Susan was awarded an MBE for services to the charity Magic Me in the June 2010 Birthday Honours.