Staff

Throughout her career as a technology leader, Susan M. Clair has built the reputation for making things happen.

Susan is a pioneer, willing to take appropriate risks, and enthusiastic about taking on the tough, complex initiatives—and bringing those projects to a successful conclusion. She’s decisive and creates actionable strategies to accomplish critical organizational objectives. Susan’s interpersonal and leadership style is collaborative and she’s built an extensive network of contacts and subject matter experts on whom she can call to resolve complex strategic and tactical issues.

Susan’s experience demonstrates clearly her success in both internal technology transformation and external initiatives:

In Susan’s current role as the Information Security Officer (ISO) with Richard Bland College (RBC), she leads and manages the college’s information security program. She also manages an extensive portfolio of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications. Before coming to RBC, Susan was the Learning Infrastructure Coordinator with the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). She worked closely with 130+ IT directors throughout the state of Virginia to enhance communication, create vision, identify priorities, and foster greater collaboration and problem-solving on IT-related issues including cybersecurity guidance. Among her achievements, Susan was selected as a broadband leader by state and national organizations for her work on meeting national broadband goals for Internet speed and accessibility in schools—and in closing the digital divide. She conceptualized and launched the 1st-ever Digital Equity Conference in 2019.

Susan made a major impact on cybersecurity across the state and grew collaboration and knowledge sharing among regions around IT issues and opportunities for innovation through the creation and leadership of an 8-member K-12 IT advisory group encompassing IT directors from each state region. Susan transformed the cybersecurity mindset and grew risk awareness. Susan led and revitalized the stagnant E-Rate program—the nation’s largest educational technology program—and wrote / administered the $27M Virginia Initiative to Support Internet Outside of Schools Network (VISION) CARES Act, enabling grants to 132 Virginia school divisions during the pandemic.

In her previous role as Director of Adult Education and Literacy with VDOE, Susan was selected to transform the end-to-end GED process from paper to web-based—slashing credentialing time from 5+ days to 1 hour. She also directed the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) across 23 regional adult education and literacy programs—transforming the approach to adult education throughout the state.

Susan holds an Education Doctorate from the George Washington University, and cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence certifications. X: @smclair, LinkedIn: (8) Susan M. Clair | LinkedIn