Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County is honored to celebrate Susan Gastle as this week’s featured Women Who Move the City Wednesday (WWMTC) Honoree! This summer, Susan will be celebrating 10 years of friendship with her Little Brother, Josh, through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County. Susan’s role as a Big Sister is unique since typically BBBSEC matches Big Sisters with Little Sisters. However, due to a shortage of Big Brothers, boys under the age of 10 can be matched with a Big Sister. Susan gladly took on this role and has been an amazing Big Sister to Josh, who was just 6 years old when they met. Over the years, they have enjoyed trying new foods, attended numerous local events and participated in agency sponsored activities. They both love the outdoors, enjoy hiking together and also any type of activity that is science related or encourages them to use their reasoning skills. Susan has been a consistent positive role model in Josh’s life, encouraging him to achieve what he sets his mind to. She is proud of her now teenage Little Brother, who will be the first in his family to graduate high school and attend college!
Over the last 10 years, Susan has also supported BBBSEC’s mission in many ways. Susan is always sharing with others what being a “Big” is like and has recruited numerous new mentors. As her professional life has evolved, she has always engaged the companies she’s worked for in supporting BBBSEC’s mission. She’s secured sponsorships, arranged for families to be adopted for the holidays, organized school drives and hosted career days. Susan has also participated in BBBSEC’s Fore the Children Golf Tournament and served on the Bowl For Kids’ Sake Committee. When the agency decided to replace the bowling event with another fundraiser, Susan served on the committee that created Women Who Move the City four years ago. In 2015 and 2016, she served as Co-Chair of the event. She assisted in growing the committee membership, secured numerous sponsorships and helped to shape the look and feel of the event. Through her leadership, WWMTC tripled in attendance and increased revenue each year!
As shared in her nomination, “Susan is an amazing Big Sister, friend and mentor to her Little Brother. Susan’s passion and belief in mentoring has inspired others to get involved, volunteer and donate to BBBSEC’s mission. She is an incredible ambassador for the agency in the community and her efforts have directly helped to raise the funds and awareness necessary to match more kids with a Big Brother or Sister.”
In addition to being an active advocate for BBBSEC, Susan has a history of involvement with many other local charities. She’s organized teams of volunteers to support Cooks for Kids and the annual 5k run for Ronald McDonald House, participated in numerous United Way of Buffalo & Erie County programs and arranged food drives for the Food Bank of WNY.
Susan graduated with honors from Niagara University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Finance and an MBA in International Management. She also has achieved her Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis Professional Certification. Susan has many years of experience in Financial Analysis at local companies in the WNY area; more recently, Susan was named Team Leader of Financial Planning and Analysis at Reverie. She is responsible for overseeing financial analysis, forecasting and reporting for the company. Susan resides in Boston with her husband Kevin and their two young daughters.
Congrats Susan! We hope you will join us to celebrate Susan and our six other outstanding Women Who Move the City Honorees on Wednesday, May 10th at the Hotel Lafayette. Tickets are going fast so click now to purchase!