Meet Sue Davies

We were lucky to catch up with Sue Davies recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sue, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

Being giving is part of what makes us human. We have the capacity to give to each other in many different ways–by volunteering, helping our neighbors, making donations, smiling at people on the street, and so many more ways. I believe that being giving is a life choice. I have tried throughout my life to give. When I was young, I wanted to change the world through politics. That was how I understood giving. I still want to change the world through politics, but also in everyday, ordinary ways. I spent my career leading fundraising operations for nonprofits. I was a professional in helping others to give and be generous. I never asked for money–I gave people an opportunity to be giving and to do something meaningful. Now, I teach at New York University, where I give back to the next generation of nonprofit leaders. I also consult and give back in that way. It is impossible to say where generosity comes from. I believe that it is an active life choice that we make every day. It is a choice to see our fellow human beings as people and to touch them wherever they are on their journey.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University, a fundraising consultant, travel writer, political independent, and (when I have time) a pickleball coach. My businesses are part of Travel For Life Now. For me, Travel For Life Now symbolizes creating a business and life that is full of exploration, curiosity, and discovery, geographically, personally, and professionally.
I spent nearly 40 years running fundraising operations at nonprofits, including the United Way of New York City, Montclair State University, Rutgers University, the American Cancer Society, the All Stars Project, Barnard College, and elsewhere. It was a good run. In 2018, I decided that I wanted to devote the last part of my career to developing the next generation of nonprofit leaders. To that end, I increased my teaching at NYU and also created a fundraising consulting practice that focuses on small nonprofits that are BIPOC and Women-led. I’m currently working on a project in Kyrgyzstan to support civil society organizations in developing their fundraising capacity and decreasing their reliance on international funders.

In addition to all that, I spend 3 to 4 months a year in Asia (mainly Singapore) and do considerable traveling around the region. In collaboration with my partner in life and travel (Regina Ang), I share my travel experiences on the Travel For Life Now website.
Lastly, I am an independent political activist and the founder of Independents4NJ. I believe that the two-party system in this country is creating polarization and pitting people against each other. As an independent (unaffiliated voter), I help people to give voice to their frustrations and desires to build something different that allows people from the entire political spectrum to work together. We all live in this country, and we need to be able to speak to each other and make decisions together. According to Gallup, 43% of voters identify as independents. In many states, we are not allowed to vote in the primaries. All voters should be allowed to vote in all publicly funded elections.
When I am not doing any of these activities, you will find me on a pickleball court.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I was never a theater person. Give me a basketball or a baseball, and I was (still am) happy. I was too shy for the stage, and it just wasn’t my scene. In my 30s, I had the opportunity to participate in improvisational workshops at my job, and that changed everything. Most people think about improv as something that people do on stage or on TV. It’s chaotic and funny. What I learned is that improv is an essential skill for life. Improv taught me how to listen better, build off of other people’s contributions (“offers” in improv speak), and how to focus on the ensemble instead of individual accomplishments. Individual accomplishments are a myth. There is nothing that we do that isn’t built upon what other people before us have done or are currently doing. These three understandings transformed me professionally and personally. Improv helped me to develop as a fundraising leader, as a frontline fundraiser, and as a professor.

I use improvisation exercises in all of my classes. Fundraising is an improvisational activity, and the tools of improv are enormously useful both in creating the learning environment and in helping students to develop as fundraisers. I am one of the coordinators of Yes, And Higher Education Network, an international group of innovative educators who use play, performance, and improv in their classes.
I recommend that everyone take improv workshops. Life, fundraising, teaching – all that we do is improvisational.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I love collaborating with people. If you are curious about anything that I’ve written, I’d like to connect with you. Here are some of the types of collaboration that I am looking for:

I would love to have conversations with fundraisers and nonprofit leaders about fundraising in the current environment. In addition, I am working on an article about fundraising and improv. I want to connect with other fundraisers who use applied improv in their fundraising trainings and activities. Or people who are curious about fundraising and improv.

I am looking to collaborate with innovative educators who use improv and performance in their teaching at any level–public school, afterschool, college, and graduate school.

I am interested in connecting with unaffiliated voters (independents) to explore how we can transform our political culture to be less polarized and more humane.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

The first image was taken by Javier Luque, Jr.
All the other Images were taken by Regina Ang, Travel For Life Now

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