About
I’m Suzanne Sharp Connors, founder and chief optimist at Avid Strategy Partners. I am a passionate, results-driven leader in the social impact space. With over two decades of experience in philanthropy, campaign strategy, and NGO leadership, I bring a dynamic mix of vision, momentum, and heart to every table I join.
Most recently, I served as the Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Conservation Lands Foundation, leading our team through a $32M comprehensive campaign, helping to grow revenue and energize a national board of directors and donors around bold conservation and grassroots advocacy goals. Throughout my career—from major gift campaigns at Graland Country Day School in Denver to alumni engagement at Fort Lewis College in Durango —I’ve brought a “get-it-done” energy grounded in strong intuition, strategic clarity, and deep relational skills.
I’m a high-energy collaborator who thrives on big ideas, bold moves, and authentic partnerships. My coaching and leadership style is empathetic, direct, transformative, and fueled by curiosity, love of learning, and an unwavering belief in what’s possible. Whether leading a team, advising a board, or connecting one-on-one, I meet people where they are and help move them toward what’s next—with both structure and soul.
I created Avid Strategy Partners to serve collaborations where I can bring my full skill set to bear—fundraising strategy, nonprofit leadership, conservation advocacy, educational excellence, facilitation, nature-based impact travel, and organizational advancement. These skills may seem disparate, but when you get to know me, it will all make sense.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Chief Philanthropy Officer, Conservation Lands Foundation: 2017-2025
Director of Alumni Engagement, Fort Lewis College: 2015-2017
Director of Development, Graland Country Day School: 2010-2015
Founder, Avid Nonprofit Strategy: 2009-2010
Senior Consultant, The Robert B. Sharp Company of Colorado: 2001-2009
Public Finance Marketing Assistant, George K. Baum & Company: 1998-2000
Fellow, El Pomar Foundation: 1996-1998
EDUCATION
2025-2026: Candidate, Masters in Tourism & Planning, University of Girona, Spain
2023: Certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy, Harvard Business School
2019: Certificate in Social Impact Strategy, University of Pennsylvania
2000: M.B.A., University of Colorado, Denver (focus: International Business)
1996: Bachelor of Science, Psychology, Washington & Lee University, Virginia
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2025: Certified Facilitator, ToPs (Technology of Participation) Method
2021: Certificate, Leading Complex Projects, IDEO U
2019: Presenter, Outdoor Industry Association’s “Outdoor University”
2017: Graduate, Leadership La Plata (Durango Chamber of Commerce)
2015: Presenter, National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Conference
2009-2012: Presenter, Rocky Mountain Philanthropy Institute
2006: Attendee, Stanford University – Executive Program for Philanthropy Leaders
On a donor trip to the Western Arctic, AK
On a donor trip to the Upper Missouri River, MT
Doing my favorite thing: cycling in Girona, Spain
The Summer Day
Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean— the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down— who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
—Mary Oliver