Former Executive Editor

Susan Phillips brings a strong background in journalism to Connect For Kids, along with a mother's-eye-view of many issues affecting children and families. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, and has worked as a newspaper reporter and columnist; television news editor, writer and producer; and as a freelance writer and editor.

Susan first saw how advocacy and journalism could work together when she worked on a project in the Republic of Macedonia, coordinating the efforts of a team of women reporters from the Slavic and Albanian communities. Through the project, sponsored by Search for Common Ground, the women overcame their mutual suspicion by working as a team to research and write feature stories important to women from both groups, such as sexual harassment in the workplace and domestic violence. By interviewing sources from both communities, and arranging simultaneous publication of the stories in the Macedonian-language and Albanian-language press, the reporters did groundbreaking work in defining a kind of public-interest journalism that crossed the rigid ethnic boundaries of their culture.

Susan has written extensively about educational issues, including a report for Congressional Quarterly Researcher on the "re-segregating" of public schools in recent years.

More from Susan

Having covered local and national politics for years, I thought I knew the rules of political hardball.

Then, three years ago, my oldest son entered our local District of Columbia public school as a kindergartner, and I found myself attending PTA meetings and organizing the occasional bake sale—activities that forced me to completely retool my self-image. Two years later, I joined a school committee involved in setting budget priorities and writing an academic plan, and I learned where the real hardball is played—in the school library in the evening.

We all had the same goals: academic excellence, a safe and nurturing atmosphere, tools to identify the learning styles of individual children and help them succeed at every level. But we had different priorities, and different ideas for how to get where we wanted to go. It was an ugly, bruising process—but the end result was a plan we could all live with. And it only took a few months for everyone to be back on speaking terms.

I learned some hard lessons at that table. The one that informs my work for Connect For Kids is that it is much more difficult, and sometimes much more contentious, to advocate for children than one might expect. Those who do it need information, encouragement, inspiration. We need ways to connect, and we need tools both for stirring things up, and calming the waters. And we need to remember that while this is hard work, it is also energizing, satisfying, and important.