About Susan Sims
A systems thinker who helps organizations lead from the inside out.
Systems thinker, community leadership practitioner, and storyteller, bringing organizational expertise, narrative craft, and twenty years of field experience to every engagement.
Susan Sims is the founder of Blue Pen Rose, which designs participatory leadership experiences for nonprofit boards and executive teams, grounded in real work rather than theory.
One of only 51 Certified Community Leadership Practitioners in the United States, Susan is a strategist and facilitator specializing in systems management, with more than twenty years of experience in nonprofit governance and community-based program design for leadership development. She partners with organizations, boards, and individuals to lead meaningful conversations, design systems-focused curricula, and create brave spaces where people connect across differences and grow.
Her approach began in the classroom. An AmeriCorps alumna, Susan served two years with Jumpstart and two years as a Pearson Teaching Fellow in Washington, DC, and Boston. She is a graduate of the Center for Inspired Teaching Institute, whose improvisation-based, engagement-first approach shaped her belief that the best learning happens when people are active participants in their own growth. That belief is at the heart of every Blue Pen Rose experience.
Susan is a graduate of the Points of Light Foundation Civic Circle Cohort (2023) and Leadership Fairfax's ELI (2012) and LFI (2022) programs. A 2021 40 Under 40 honoree from the Leadership Center for Excellence, she has received multiple awards for volunteerism, leadership, and innovation. She serves on several science and education nonprofit boards and is a published author in science, education, and creative writing.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts from The George Washington University and a Master of Fine Arts from Full Sail University.
"Take good care of yourselves and each other."
Credentials & Certifications
A practitioner built for this work.
Core Credential
Certified Community Leadership Practitioner
Nationally recognized credential in community leadership — the foundation of every engagement Susan brings to nonprofit boards and executive teams.
MFA, Creative Writing
The narrative architecture behind every simulation
Graduate, Center for Inspired Teaching Institute
Transformative learner-centered facilitation
Liberating Structures Facilitator
Experienced across Crowd Sourcing, Open Space Technology, Purpose to Practice, and more
Certified Therapeutic Game Master
Therapeutic applications of tabletop role-playing in facilitation and simulation design
Points of Light Foundation Civic Circle
Civic leadership and community impact
2021 40 Under 40 Honoree
Recognized for leadership, volunteerism, and innovation
Work Together
Ready to strengthen how your organization leads and operates?
A discovery call is a conversation — no pitch, no pressure. We'll talk about the leadership and systems challenges your organization is facing and whether this approach is the right fit.