C3's Susan Kruse featured as Top Impact Maker in Virginia

Virginia Business magazine profiled C3’s Executive Director, Susan Kruse this month as its “100 People to Meet in 2022: Impact Makers” list. The feature, which spotlights business leaders and trendsetters from across the Commonwealth, was published in the magazine’s December 2021 edition. Susan was included in the magazine’s top impact makers, who “use their leadership skills to make a difference in their communities.”

Susan has been the Community Climate Collaborative’s Executive Director since 2019. She joined after serving as the Director of Philanthropy at Appalachian Voices, based in Charlottesville. 

She made her start in environmental protection and justice 25 years ago. After launching the Allegheny Defense Project in her native Pennsylvania in 1994, Susan helped to found the National Forest Protection Alliance and joined the staff as the Eastern Field Coordinator. She led their federal legislative efforts to protect national forests before ultimately serving as the organization’s executive director. In 2006, Susan pursued her passion for philanthropic work and became the Director of Development for the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. After 10 years of growing Legal Aid’s development program and becoming a major gifts specialist, Susan returned to environmental work in 2016 to join Appalachian Voices. 

Susan was appointed to Virginia’s Clean Energy Advisory Board in 2019 for a three-year term. She is a graduate of Clarion University in Pennsylvania and resides in Charlottesville with her husband Mike and their two nature-loving boys, Evan and Sebastian.