Susan Stroud, founder and Executive Director of Innovations in Civic Participation, brings over 30 years of experience in the fields of public service, social responsibility of higher education, and international policy development. Stroud was one of the White House architects of the National and Community Trust Act of 1993 and the AmeriCorps program, and later went on to senior positions at the Corporation for National and Community Service. She was the first director of Learn and Serve America.

A leader and principal thinker on how to engage different kinds of institutions in civic engagement, Susan was the founding director of both Campus Compact, a national coalition of over 1,000 university and college presidents committed to civic engagement and service-learning, and the Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University.

Ms. Stroud worked at the Ford Foundation to design youth civic engagement policies and programs around the world, working with governments, universities, donor organizations, and NGOs in South Africa, Mexico, Russia and other countries.

Founded in 2001, ICP provides technical assistance to develop youth service programs and policies around the world, supports an international community of professionals working in the civic engagement field, and provides a source of information about youth service programs and policies. Currently ICP serves as the secretariat for two global networks: Talloires Network, an international network of universities for advancing social responsibility and civic engagement, and the International Association for National Youth Service, a network of individuals working with national youth service programs.