Trainer Biography

 

SUSAN L. SECKER, Ph.D.,
Consultant in Ethical Leadership

Susan L. Secker, former provost of Seattle University, is a consultant in leadership development with SLS Consulting, LLC.  Dr. Secker has held senior leadership positions that include responsibilities for strategic planning, team building, diversifying the workforce, and cultivating ethical leadership.

Dr. Secker came to Seattle University in 1989 as an assistant professor of ethics, having completed her doctoral studies in ethics at the University of Chicago.  As a professor, she taught ethics to graduate and undergraduate students, was a member of the Society of Christian Ethics, an elected board member of the Catholic Theological Society of America, and a consultant for ethics to the Washington State Conference of Catholic Bishops.  After being tenured and promoted to associate professor of ethics, Dr. Secker was appointed to leadership positions at Seattle University that include: department chair, associate dean, associate provost, vice president for planning and provost.

Prior to coming to Seattle, Dr. Secker taught in elementary and secondary schools, served on the leadership team of a secondary school in Wisconsin, and led a 12 member pastoral team in Montana.  Her resume includes service as a campus minister at Montana State University as well as work among Native Americans, establishing a street ministry program in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, while earning a Master of Divinity degree at Loyola University of Chicago’s Hyde Park campus.  During her Master’s program, Susan interned as a prison chaplain at a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky and as a hospital chaplain with the University of Chicago hospitals.  Her career includes experience in pastoral counseling, retreat work, and spiritual direction.

Dr. Secker understands organizations, how they work, and the challenges and opportunities that their respective missions offer.  She believes that authentic leadership results when persons lead from their own inner compass.  The inspiration to be a leader in one’s life does not depend on roles or positions; it depends on being grounded in one’s deepest values and living with integrity, guided by those values.  Her passion lies in urging others, especially women and persons of color, to unleash their potential for the common good. 

Currently, Dr. Secker serves on the Board of Directors for Northwest Harvest and the Women’s Funding Alliance, and on the Board of Trustees for Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.