Susan Collin Marks

Susan Collin Marks is Senior Vice President of Search for Common Ground. A native South African, she worked as a peacebuilder during her country's transition from apartheid to democracy. Her book about that process, Watching the Wind: Conflict Resolution during South Africa's Transition to Democracy (US Institute of Peace, 2000) was also published in Arabic in 2004.

For over 20 years, Susan has facilitated dialogues and done one-on-one coaching for political, institutional and civil society leaders worldwide. In 2006, she launched the Leadership Wisdom Initiative at SFCG. She serves on numerous boards, including the Advisory Council of the Woodrow Wilson International Center Project on Africa and Leadership, and the Abraham Path Initiative. Susan is the founding editor of Track Two, a quarterly publication on community and political conflict resolution and was portrayed in the PBS documentary Peace X Peace: Women on the Frontlines. Her honors include a Jennings Randolph Peace Fellowship at the United States Institute for Peace, the Institute for Noetic Science's Creative Altruism Award, a Skoll Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University for Peace in Costa Rica. She speaks, teaches, coaches, writes, facilitates, and supports peace processes and conflict resolution programs internationally. Susan believes that our common humanity binds us together more than our differences divide us. She works to make it so.