Susan Sarfati

Susan Sarfati is CEO of High Performance Strategies, a speaking and consulting firm that focuses on creating high performance individuals, teams and organizations to achieve beyond excellent results. She was CEO of the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives, the founding CEO of The Center for Association Leadership and Executive Vice President of the American Society of Association Executives until September 2008.

Susan is known for visionary leadership, innovation, creativity and high performance. She has created extraordinary relationships in the association profession and launched the social responsibility movement at ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership. She is a frequent speaker on leadership, management, sustainability, women's issues, creating extraordinary customer experiences and cultures, high performance organizational strategies, and innovation.

Whether it is creating a 13-year speakers series at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC that attracted hundreds of the world's top leaders and most accomplished personalities in all fields of endeavor or launching a $5 million Center for Association Leadership, Susan is at her best when looking forward to a world of untapped opportunities by creating them.

Business guru Tom Peters calls Susan the most original thinker and executive in the world of associations (A BIG WORLD!). If I was named to lead an association, my first initiative would be that I demand my new executive director spend time with Susan." She has been a powerful advocate for the association profession, delivering hundreds of highly evaluated speeches and authoring many articles on all aspects of leadership, visionary thinking, organizational strategies, alliance-building, fundraising, and more. Through her many accomplishments, colleagues have praised Susan for her unselfish commitment to the betterment of the profession, always putting the collective good before her individual pursuits.

Many organizations have recognized Susan for her excellence. She was named Nonprofit Times 2001 Executive of the Year for her forward-thinking and creative leadership. In 2003 the International Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus (now the Destination Marketing Association International) gave Susan its prestigious Spirit of Hospitality Award for her distinguished service to the meetings and hospitality industries. For several years Meeting News named her one of the 25 most influential people in the meetings industry.

Today, Susan has embarked on a new journey of contributions back to the profession she values so much, launching High Performance Strategies, a company devoted to helping organizations achieve new heights in their vision and accomplishments. She has a strong commitment to social responsibility, and is currently writing a book about the many ways ordinary people have made a difference in the world by being risk taking, open, transparent and authentic.

Susan shares her time and talent by volunteering for leadership roles in her profession and the community. She has or currently serves on the corporate board of The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, Gifts in Kind International, Destination DC, and aTrustee of The Federal City Council and was an inaugural member of the Kogod Advisory Council for the Kogod School of Business at American University. Susan also served on the Association Committee of 100 of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Susan was also honored by being invited to become a member of the International Women's Forum, an organization of preeminent women of significant and diverse achievement including The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor and Secretary of State Hillary Rodman Clinton.