A message from outgoing MAEC President Susan Shaffer
July 9, 2025
Dear MAEC Community,
After 33 years, I am writing to share with you that I am retiring from my day-to-day role as President of MAEC, an organization I had the profound honor of co-founding.
This work has been my life’s calling. I have cherished every chapter, serving first as MAEC’s Vice President and then as President for the last 15 years. Two years ago, I began preparing for this transition, mentoring and working closely with our next leader, Dr. Karmen Rouland, and our executive team to ensure a thoughtful and deliberate succession plan. This process has been rooted in our commitment to sustainability, equity, and leadership development.
My heart is deeply intertwined with MAEC’s mission, work, and the incredible community we’ve built together. For a short period, I will remain closely involved as Chair of the Board and Strategic Advisor, offering guidance and support to Karmen and our current team as we move into this next chapter. As MAEC’s Vice President for the past four years and a key figure within the organization since 2017, Karmen is well-prepared to lead this organization. I have full confidence in the strength and talent of Karmen and our current team. I’m excited about where MAEC is headed, even during uncertain and challenging times.
As an educator for more than 50 years, it has been the privilege of a lifetime to help shape MAEC into a force for social justice, educational equity, and fairness. From our early days with a vision and a dream: leaving American University in 1992 to start a new organization based on one grant (our equity assistance center); raising millions of dollars, expanding our staff and reach, and serving thousands of students, families, communities, and educators — for me, the journey has been nothing short of extraordinary.
The truth is this work has never been more urgent. We are living in a time when everything we stand for — truth, equity, justice, care — is being attacked, dismissed, or dismantled. This movement needs all of us, now more than ever. We need to be louder, bolder, more creative, more rooted in community, and more relentless in our pursuit of justice.
To all of you, my family, friends, staff, colleagues, partners, and supporters: thank you. Thank you for your trust, your collaboration, your generosity, and your shared commitment to justice. I carry those relationships and lessons into this next phase with deep gratitude. I will continue to fight. Just in a new role, with a clearer view of the long arc—and how we must keep bending it.
With love and resolve,
Susan
Co-Founder
Chair of the Board & Strategic Advisor
MAEC
