Susan Smith

Australian Logistics Manager

Sue brings a rich and varied life experience to her work. Born in the UK, as a child she experienced the itinerant life of a military family, living in Malaysia and Cyprus as well as several locations in England. 

Sue’s professional life began as a general nurse at the London Hospital. After working as a midwife in Cumberland up in the north of England, she spent nineteen months as a nursing sister in a clinic in Northern Ethiopia treating debilitating diseases and conditions that result from widespread poverty and inadequate sanitation in which most of the population existed. Her time in Ethiopia was brought to an abrupt end when she contracted, and nearly died from, typhus.

Sue migrated to Australia in 1978. Following her marriage to Brian and time focused on raising a young family, Sue studied early childhood education at Macquarie University graduating with first class honors in 1999. She worked for the next 18 years in a primary school in South West Sydney, a low socio-economic area with a very diverse community including a large number of refugees arriving from the Middle East.

Following her retirement from teaching in 2017, Sue has worked part time as a research assistant with a team at Western Sydney University who are evaluating the effectiveness of the programs run by an organization who work with school communities to foster intercultural understanding and to help students learn how to deal with difference.

Sue loves spending time with her family and delights in being involved in the care of her three grandchildren. She has also written a children’s book. Sue trained as a public innovator in the 2021 Sydney Lab and has assisted with the Institute’s administration in Australia as a volunteer over the past five years. She brings a lifetime of organizational skills and attention to detail to her newly created role as Australian Logistics Manager.