Leadership Team

Sue Shannon is the Executive Director of HopeWorx, Inc. She started at HopeWorx in 2005 as the office manager and project coordinator, after a 16 year career in television and theater, looking for a career change that more aligned with her values. She is grateful to have found herself embedded in an organization of peer support, that valued her unique experiences in her life and in her professional career, in a county that introduced her to the concept of recovery oriented mental health services. She earned a Master’s in NonProfit Management from Eastern University in 2008, using many of her class projects in topics such as Strategic Management and Human Resources to reinforce the infrastructure at HopeWorx, which was growing in budget, staff, and services. After graduating she became the Operations Manager of HopeWorx, responsible for most of the financial and logistical management. She was part of the team of people that included members of HopeWorx’ staff, board, and community partners who took the idea of a peer run community and built it into a pilot that was called the HopeMarket. Sue has been dedicated to finding the resources to build this pilot into a sustainable community that is open to all who want to participate and led by the people who show up. When the founding Executive Director Sandy Watson retired in 2013, Sue applied, and was chosen by the board to continue the mission.

Sue does not identify as a person with lived experience in the mental health system, but she does bring an understanding about the impacts of trauma from her own experiences growing up in a chaotic and unstable household. Her experiences working in theater and television as a production manager and producer, supervising union crews and support staff in dramatic environments, gave her an employer’s perspective on employing people who struggle with addiction and mental health issues. This “behind the scenes” perspective was also valuable when she was learning to work in an environment committed to lifting the voices of people who are often disregarded and to creating the capacity for talented people to do their best work. Helping other people to grow and shine was Sue’s life work before she came to Montgomery County - at HopeWorx she found a way to use those skills to build a community.

Sue has participated in many Montgomery County workgroups, committees and steering committees over the last 15 years. Currently she is a member of the steering committees of the Montgomery County Hearing Voices Network and Advocates Against Hunger. She participates in the county’s Stepping Up Initiative, on the Re-entry Subcommittee and its Financial Skills workgroup, and previously worked on the Data Subcommittee. She actively works as a technical assistant to the Montgomery County CSP committee, including the planning of the annual conference that grew from 75 people at the first event in 2013 to over 500 people at the last pre-pandemic event. She supervises the technical assistance of the Southeast Regional CSP committee, and has attended the annual advocacy bus trips to Harrisburg that the committee organizes. Sue was in the first cohort of nonprofit leaders who took the HealthSpark Foundation’s Leadership Capacity Building year long training, during which she established lasting relationships with the other organizations in the cohort, including Legal Aid of Southeastern PA, ACLAMO, and Pottstown Works. Sue is a member of the advocacy and behavioral health subcommittees of the MAX Association. She attends the Mental Health Planning Council as a Sunshine member, and participated on the recent MHPC subcommittee to update the Call for Change. Sue has also volunteered at the University Community Social Services soup kitchen (also known as the “Meatloaf Kitchen”) in Manhattan, New York since 1993, and has been a member of its board and also a member of its operations leadership team since 2005.

Harry, HopeWorx Operations Manager, graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Previous to HopeWorx, Harry has worked as a Store Manager for the past 15 years at various retail companies, where he has had extensive training in Payroll, Human Resources, Billing, Customer Service, Facilities, Inventory Control, and Staff Management.

Harry lives with his wife Liane and their many extremely pampered pets. In his spare time, he enjoys playing a round of disc golf, nerding out with friends, and has an ongoing endeavor to visit every U.S. state with his wife.

Kim Renninger is the Director of the AdvocacyWorx program at HopeWorx, which provides individual and system advocacy services to adults involved with the behavioral health system. She has worked in the mental health field for over a decade, previously working for Magellan Health as a Peer Recovery Navigator and for the Mental Health Association in Pennsylvania as an External Advocate at Norristown State Hospital. Kim has experience working with adults and children from diverse backgrounds in various settings and has been active in the consumer/survivor/ex-patient and troubled teen industry survivor communities.

Kim obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Alvernia University in 2009 and completed the Certified Peer Specialist training in Montgomery County in the summer of 2012. She is the current co-chair of the Montgomery County Community Support Program Advocacy Subcommittee, the Norristown State Hospital Human Rights Committee, and the Ferns Peer Respite Advisory Council, as well as serving on numerous other committees. She is also trained as an Intentional Peer Support Organizational Trainer and a Mental Health Advanced Directives Trainer. As a survivor herself, she has a passion to affect systemic change within the behavioral health system and to advocate for the rights of others who have historically not been given a voice in their own lives. She lives with her husband, stepson, son, and Australian Shepherd, and enjoys spending time with her family and close friends and in nature.

Clare Higgins, FamilyWorx and FST Program Director, graduated from the University of Notre Dame with dual degrees in marketing and sociology. She met her husband, Bill, in college and has been happily married for over 30 years. Clare has a professional background in business and spent many years as an international fashion buyer. Clare and Bill have eight amazing children-six biological and two adopted from Eastern Europe. Raising her adopted children, who had significant trauma narratives and both physical and behavioral health challenges, fueled Clare’s passion for helping others to navigate the child serving systems in a way that they could feel safe, seen, and heard. Clare has been involved in peer work for over 17 years. She is trained in a number of signature programs through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and has achieved the highest level of trauma-informed care certification through Lakeside Global Institute. Clare is involved in multiple state and county initiatives and work groups aimed at improving youth and family experiences in the behavioral health systems, with a special interest in improving safety for children in congregate care. Clare is committed to the mission and values of peer work and strongly believes in the value of sharing lived experience to empower others and provide hope. She is thrilled to work with a team of individuals who equally value this work, and can rely on each other for support, guidance, and continued growth. Clare is an avid sewer, crafter, and seamstress, and in her spare time enjoys spending time with her family and pets, appreciating nature, laughing, walking, and volunteering.