287 views

This Week's Speakers
Susan and Bruce Keenan, Himalayan Children's Charities

Join us at LeMeridien this Friday to welcome Susan and Bruce Keenan and hear about the work they have been doing in Nepal. Part of their future work there is tied to a Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation that we are planning to help support. 

An entrepreneur in the early days of Atlanta’s convention industry, Susan worked for 25 years with other business owners and hospitality leaders to make Atlanta one of the top destination markets in the world. In 1993, while volunteering at a local non-profit to help young people tap into their inner resources, she mentored students to develop their leadership qualities.

Bruce spent a number of years working in the computer industry and in 1997 co-founded Prosys Information Systems, serving as CEO until his retirement in 2008. Bruce grew Prosys from inception to $450M in revenue and 420 employees in nine years without outside investors or capital, and delivered a profitable baseline every quarter. Prosys was awarded top computer reseller in the US by VAR Business magazine in 2006, and was sold to Bell Microproducts (BELM) later that year. Bruce also founded The Keenan Foundation in 2006, which is dedicated to the care and education of children throughout the world, to support at-risk animals and to protect the environment.

In 1999, after a trip trekking in Nepal, Bruce, and his wife Susan, began sponsoring the education of two orphaned sisters in Kathmandu. Soon they were sponsoring two more children, then four, then eight, and Himalayan Children’s Charities (HCC) was founded. Bruce believes that every child, regardless of the circumstances they were born into, deserves an education and the opportunity to live a fulfilled life, and HCC was established with that philosophy. HCC provides quality education, innovative mentorship and nurturing care to orphaned, abandoned and disadvantaged children in Nepal. With Bruce at the helm, over the last 22 years HCC has directly supported 540 children and helped over 10,000 through various outreach projects.

Susan established her vision of “leaders training leaders” with such successful HCC programs as higher education through university, a nurturing family environment, and a life-skills leadership training. She has fostered effective scholarship programs for students in rural Nepal who were victims of the devastating 2015 earthquakes and launched a program to bring WiFi technology and e-learning to remote rural schools. With over 23 years of experience as a Co-Director and Board Chair of Himalayan Children’s Charities (HCC), Susan is a passionate and accomplished leader committed to helping disadvantaged children.

Susan is a graduate of Syracuse University and the Newhouse School of Communications. She has been a member of the Johns Creek North Fulton Rotary Club since 2018. She is the recipient of her club’s 2018 Rookie of the Year Award and 2023 Service Above Self Award. She currently serves as its Global Grants Chair. 

Bruce graduated from  Ohio State University with a Bachelor in Science in Theoretical Mathematics in 1976. He is a member of the Kasthamandap Rotary Club in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Bruce and Susan live in Atlanta and have three grown daughters.

Posted by Jackie Cuthbert
August 23, 2023

Comments

This Year’s Posts: