Susan’s first encounter with IKAR was a Roxbury picnic Shabbat, but she was truly drawn in after a transformative High Holy Days service a few years later. She immediately knew there was something remarkable here, and that she wanted to be a part of it. IKAR is a community like no other. As a member, Susan experienced IKAR’s warmth and welcoming environment. She has long admired IKAR’s commitment to building a more just and meaningful world, and this continues to be her “why” in her role on staff.

As Associate Director of Development, Susan (affectionately known as Sledge here at IKAR) connects purpose-driven people to the myriad of ways they can make a deep and lasting impact. She builds trust and long-term support through storytelling, a reflection of her years in the entertainment industry. Grounded in the belief that fundraising is about dreams (all credit to Rabbi Marcelo Bronstein for that gem), Sledge brings a storyteller’s instinct to every aspect of development, guiding donors and teams with humor, humanity, and purpose. Her background in Latin American Studies and fluency in Spanish bring a cross-cultural lens to her relationship-centered work.

In her non-working life, Sledge loves playing games, singing karaoke badly, and riding at Ciclavia with her family. She collects books she intends to read, watches Golden Girls, and plays the NYT Games every morning. She enjoys live music and nerding out with podcasts. Sledge is a recovering endurance athlete, having completed two half-IronMan races, and still harboring dreams of podiuming by age 80.