A 19-year residence of Davis, Susan Lovenburg has always been attracted to children’s and educational causes. Since 2007,Susan has served on the Davis School Board. Prior to that, she was a long-time parent volunteer in the school district.
Susan also serves her community through the Soroptimist Club of Davis and co-founded “Serving California Communities” in 2009, a group that brings together county, city, and school elected representatives, educators, parents, students, health professionals, educators, senior citizens, government employees and business owners to advocate for the resources needed to support healthy California communities. She also co-founded the Yolo County Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Her active participation in these service activities led her to Yolo County CASA. “I had friends through the Davis School Board that had worked with Yolo County CASA and they invited me to join the board of directors. My service on the board of Yolo CASA gives me great joy. I’m inspired by the CASA mission and by our advocates who make an incredible difference in the lives of our CASA kids—giving voice to the most vulnerable in our community.”
Mentorship, Susan says, is a cornerstone to all of the activities in which she involves herself. “I see mentorship as an extension of so many services. Information sharing and becoming really good at the things we already do to serve vulnerable populations are key to success. The core of Yolo County CASA’s mission follows this concept. A caring, volunteer adult mentor is the main ingredient to building resilience in foster children during the toughest times of their lives. I see the data and it makes all the difference. Foster children with CASAs have a greater ability to thrive and get the resources they need, all because of that one relationship and the mentorship, guidance, and advocacy that goes on within it.”
In addition to her volunteer activities, Lovenburg works full-time for California Forward, managing the California Economic Summit project. Each year, the Summit connects regional and state leaders to develop a shared agenda to generate jobs and improve regional competitiveness. “Economic collaboration is the crux of what I do in all of my volunteer and professional roles. I believe in maximizing resources available to reach our goals. We are working on that at this very moment on the Yolo County CASA Board of Directors as we embark on our goal to provide every foster child with a CASA by 2020. With the help of our wonderful executive director, staff, and volunteers, we are seeing great success.”
Susan has three daughters of her own, ages 26, 20 and 18. While her time is extremely limited, she cannot envision her life without her service on the Yolo County CASA board. “I’ve served on the board through some very tough times in the organization. We are now at a very healthy point in our organization and are stronger for the hard times we weathered. I’m inspired by my colleagues on the board who selflessly give their time, talent and treasure so that Yolo County CASA will always be there for those who need it. I am blessed to be one small part of this very remarkable endeavor and grateful for my ability to take the knowledge and information that I gain both on the Davis School Board and the Yolo County CASA Board of Directors and create mutual benefit. It all circles back to mentorship.”
Thank you, Susan, for being such a valuable mentor in our community. We are grateful for your leadership at Yolo County CASA.
