PRESIDENT AND SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST

Susan is Elmore’s founder and president. She is a trusted advisor and counselor with extensive experience connecting clients to their target audiences through innovative media relations, issue management, marketing campaigns, and strategic partnerships.

Since 1992, Susan has served as a relevant thought leader and critical partner in presenting some of Houston’s most transformational projects – from conception to completion – to stakeholders and audiences locally and around the country. Susan has worked hand-in-glove with organizations responsible for the urban development in Houston over the last two decades, especially in parks and greenspaces, and under her leadership, her company has introduced some of Houston’s most significant and ambitious projects, including  Discovery Green, Buffalo Bayou Park, and Bayou Greenways 2020.

Susan has cultivated a team with a specialized understanding of Houston’s urban planning, commercial real estate, corporate, arts, education, entertainment, and non-profit industries. Skilled in navigating complex relationships with consideration and tact, she has the trust of city, county, for-profit and non-profit CEOs, and is an expert in working collaboratively with various publics.

One of Susan’s first success stories was her contribution to Central Houston, Inc. and building a roster of clients who invested in the reinvigoration of downtown Houston. Elmore achieved a reputation for placemaking, and as a result, Susan met many leaders that quickly became clients across several industries, including commercial real estate, fine arts, and infrastructure.

Live Nation, the nation’s largest live entertainment company (PACE Entertainment at the time), extended Elmore’s expertise into markets across the country when Susan was brought on to provide corporate counsel and crisis management to their leadership at the national level. Serving for more than a decade, this experience taught us communications during an aggressive acquisition phase as PACE was acquired by SFX, then Clear Channel and eventually Live Nation.  Susan and the team worked on a broad range of media relations opportunities, including the Wall Street Journal investigation of concert ticket sales and pricing, crisis management during public events, and issue management throughout North America in the concert, motor sports, exhibitions, and theatrical divisions of the company.

While the firm has always been honored and humbled to serve major national brands, our passion lies in promoting organizations harnessing and reimagining Houston’s potential. In 2002, we were invited to partner with the Harris County Flood Control District to conceive and help build its first communications department. Susan’s strategic planning helped establish the process and infrastructure around communications for Flood Control’s innumerable and highly complex projects, for which we still provide communications support today.

Today, Susan remains the heart of the firm, and a trusted advisor to many community leaders responsible for improving the greater Houston region. She counts “active listening” and “hiring the absolute best people” as her secret weapons in business and has built a team of experienced, creative professionals, all motivated to tell the stories of our clients while maintaining Elmore’s four core values: listening, clarity, curiosity, and support.

Susan is a graduate of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and attended the University of Houston. In her free time, Susan enjoys travel, great food, rowing, and art.