Susan Brady

Susan Mackenty Brady is a CEO, Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and speaker who has been repeatedly invited to take the main stage at user conferences and other events by client partners such as The Walt Disney Company, Toyota, Kimberly Clarke, and Google.   Her keynotes focus on how respect can be a leader’s ultimate catalyst for accountability, inclusivity, and results. Susan is the founding CEO of The Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership where she holds the Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Chair for Women and Leadership. 

As an expert in driving accountability and performance, she teaches leaders, executives, and leadership teams how to create cultures of confident humility and has keynoted or consulted at over 500 organizations around the world. Clients include world-class organizations such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Intuitive Surgical, and Moet-Hennessey.

She is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Arrive & Thrive: 7 Essential Practices of Women Navigating Leadership (McGraw Hill, April 2022), The Inclusive Leader’s Playbook (Simmons University), Mastering Your Inner Critic and 7 Other High Hurdles to Advancement: How the Best Women Leaders Practice Self-Awareness to Change What Really Matters (McGraw Hill), and The 30-Second Guide to Coaching Your Inner Critic (Linkage, 2016). Her media appearances include “Good Morning America” on ABC-TV, Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, TIME, and Inc. Magazine. 

Prior to joining Simmons University, Brady founded the Women in Leadership Institute™ 

and launched a global consulting practice for Linkage, Inc. (now a part of SHRM) on Advancing Women Leaders where she led the field research behind the 7 Leadership Hurdles Women Leaders Face in the Workforce™. Dedicated to inspiring women of all identities to realize their full potential, Brady built and chairs the esteemed Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership Strategic Advisory Board.  

Susan serves as emeritus board member of the not-for-profit Strong Women, Strong Girls. Brady lives in the Boston area with her two daughters and two Portuguese water dogs.S