Upon graduation from University of Massachusetts with a BA in Education, Susan returned to Buffalo to work as Children's Program supervisor at the Jewish Community Center. It was during this two-year tenure that Susan had the opportunity to lead a group of teens on a trip to Israel, an experience that changed her life.  The following year, Susan returned to Israel to study Hebrew on a Kibbutz Ulpan, then made aliyah and lived in Israel for 8 years on Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz.  While on kibbutz, Susan married and had two children, a daughter Liat, now 23 years old and a son Yaron, 21.  She worked extensively in the education track on the kibbutz, spending five years working with toddlers and pre-schoolers and then three years as an English teacher and later head of the English department in the regional High School.

Susan returned to Buffalo in the fall of 1989 and immediately immersed herself in the Jewish community, teaching 3 & 4 year olds in Temple Beth Am's pre-school and Hebrew in the Religious School, working summers at Camp Centerland and leading music for Congregation Havurah.  From 1993 – 1998, Susan served as the Director of Early Childhood Services at the JCC – Holland Family Building.  From 1998 - 2001, Susan was the Executive Director of Hillel of Buffalo, providing cultural, spiritual, educational and social programs for Jewish university students in the Western New York area.

Susan continues her personal Jewish education through informal and formal Torah study, participation every summer in the URJ adult summer Kallah program and attendance at annual national Synagogue educators' conferences. She welcomes children and their families to join her in creating a community of life long Jewish learners at TBZ.