Meet Susan

I moved to Australia in 2002, together with my husband, raising our three sons here. Born in San Francisco, I have lived in six countries. I have worked in aid and development, as a freelance journalist, consumer health advocate, Councillor for the city of Boroondara, and since 2017 have been leading change in a national health organisation. 

As the National Manager, Regulatory Experience and Engagement, at the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), I work to improve the experience of both health practitioners and the public through listening to them and using their feedback to design better, more humane and efficient systems. I have degrees from Duke (BA) and Stanford (MA) universities, I have published extensively in Australia, including writing for The Age, Good Weekend and The Big Issue. My book, The Upside of Down, was released in 2014.

I am also Chair of Electrify Boroondara, a broad alliance of community groups and individuals dedicated to accelerating our transition to a clean energy future in the city of Boroondara.  

Two of my three adult sons live with a serious chronic illness; in response to this experience, I have served for more than two decades as a consumer representative across a range of organisations. Among other things, I was the inaugural chair of the Family Advisor Council at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Since 2013 I have been the co-organiser of an annual fundraiser, supporting high-quality cystic fibrosis research in Australia; as of 2025, we have now raised more than $1,140,000.

I have always volunteered in community organisations, for example:

  • serving as president of the Parents & Friends Association at my sons’ high school
  • coordinating the ‘Walking school bus’ at our local primary school
  • running a monthly support group for more than a decade for families impacted by cystic fibrosis

I thrive on activity and have always participated in sport and encouraged it in my family. I captained my basketball team to the California state championship (many years ago!) and played volleyball on a scholarship at Duke University. I continue to play on a local netball team, though my level would now definitely be categorised as ‘amateur’. I also roller-skate, it’s true, including in recent years doing a 65 km skate for charity.