About Susan Fowler

Susan resetting the automatic light switch during the Holly Ball 2007

Susan Fowler is owner of Fast Smart Web Design and a consultant for FAST Consulting, but she also spends a lot of time working for free or cheap. For example:

Beewatchers Project, American Museum of Natural History, summer 2007-current

See The Great Pollinators Project: NYC Beewatchers for more information.

South Street Seaport Museum, 1982-1991, 2006, August 2007-Sept. 2008

• Volunteer coordinator (paid). Put systems in place to keep track of volunteers and interns, from initial application to interview, screening, and job placement. Also developed forms and processes that meet legal requirements to protect both volunteers and the museum. Daily: Interview potential volunteers; find volunteers to help with department projects; act as liaison between staff and volunteers and between the museum and sources of volunteers (VolunteerMatch, NYCares, etc.).
• Ship Wavertree: Cast-iron maintenance (chipping and needle-gunning) and tool management and repair from 1982-1991.
• In 2006, helped with the first one-day “Ship Wavertree Volunteer Alumni” fundraiser at the museum, which brought in $7,600.

Christ Church New Brighton, Staten Island, NY, 2000-current

• As chair of Plant & Equipment Committee, managed a $100,000 emergency repair of the church tower, including finding an engineer, writing the RFP, selecting the restoration firm, getting Landmarks and Building Department approvals, and applying for and helping committee members apply for grants and loans. Grants have paid for more than half of the cost.
• Wrote the successful application to place the church on the National Register of Historic Places and successful grant applications to the NY Landmarks Conservancy Sacred Sites program and the Property Support program of the NY Episcopal Diocese.
• Wrote job descriptions and structured-interview questions, and interviewed candidates for office manager and sexton positions.
• Made the church and parish hall accessible to people in wheelchairs with ramps and a wheelchair lift.

Staten Island Community Supported Agriculture, 2005-current

Founding member and liaison between Christ Church and the CSA. Currently maintaining the website, http://statenislandcsa.org.

Episcopal High School & Episcopal Elementary School, Robertsport, Liberia, April 2007-current

Simplified the organization’s  website and found them options for collecting dues and donations. EHS/EES is an alumni association dedicated to rebuilding a high school and elementary school in Robertsport, Liberia. See http://ehsees.org/.

Trees NY, 2008

Citizen pruner.

Meals on Wheels, 2004-current

Help deliver meals.

Society for Technical Communication, 1990-2001

• President of metropolitan New York chapter, 1990-1991. In that year, membership jumped from 100 to 400 members and the chapter won the international STC’s top Chapter Achievement award in the 400-members-or-over category.

• Also ran public relations for the STC international conference in 1991.

Animal Rights International, 1983-1998

IT advisor and newsletter editor for Henry Spira, head of ARI. ARI ran a variety of successful animal-rights campaigns. Some of the results are the reduction or elimination of animal testing in the cosmetics industry, repeal of the law requiring shelters to sell animals to medical labs in New York state, a vegetarian patty option at some McDonalds and McDonald’s hiring Temple Grandin to ensure that slaughterhouses supplying their beef use humane processes, and agreement by U.S. government departments to accept in vitro tests for the LD50.

ACM SIGCHI, current

Member of SIGCHI and writer for Computing Reviews. Profiled reviewer at http://www.reviews.com/todaysissue/todaysissue_featured.cfm?reviewer_id=110063 and interviewed in the March 2001 issue of interactions.

Street Tree Census, NYC Parks Department, Staten Island, 2005-2006

Helped count trees for the city; did a follow-up count on missed trees in 2006. See http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/trees_greenstreets/treescount/index.php.

HOPE: The NYC Street Survey, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010

Helped count the homeless on the streets of Staten Island. Our team found three decoys in 2006.

Episcopal Charities, Diocese of New York, 2001-2006

Member of the Advisory Committee. Helped revise the application forms in 2003 and created an Excel-based rubric for analyzing grant applications.