Susan Shaffer
CHAIR
Susan Shaffer is the Co-founder and former President of MAEC and the former Executive Director of the Center for Education Equity (CEE), the Region I federally-designated Equity Assistance Center. Susan has been a nationally recognized expert for more than five decades. Her transformational work in public schools has centered on the development of comprehensive technical assistance for system-wide change, training on educational equity and culturally responsive pedagogy and practice, school climate and culture, family, school, and community engagement, and multicultural gender-related issues. Susan has led MAEC for over 30 years, both as president and vice-president.
Susan is also the Co-Founder and Chair of the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, a former member of the U.S. Department of Education’s Effective Educator Development Advisory Council, and formerly served on the Continuous Improvement for Equity Design Team with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She is the author or co-author of several books, articles, and publications, including How to Connect with your iTeen: A Parenting Road Map; Equity-Centered Capacity Building: Essential Approaches for Excellence & Sustainable School System Transformation; and “Using Social-Emotional Learning & Literacy Tools to Bridge the Gap During & Beyond COVID-19” from the Handbook of Research on Supporting Social and Emotional Development Through Literacy Education (2021). Susan holds a B.A. in History and an M.A. in Education from the University of California, Berkeley. She serves on several boards and national councils, including NAFSCE (Chair), Bowie State University School of Education (2012–2019), Harmony through Education in India (since 2006), the Center for Family Math, the Pre-Service Consortium on Family Engagement, the Maryland Committee of Title I Practitioners, and the National Alliance for Family Engagement. She has received numerous awards for her service, leadership, and contributions to curricular materials on women.
