The Ellis Archive - The Susan J. Ellis Foundation

The archive primarily consists of digitized documents from Susan J. Ellis' personal resource library. Focused on Susan’s passion -- the professional leadership of volunteers – the documents extend from the mid-1940’s –1990’s.

The archive contains an extensive, searchable database of the digitized documents where you can search by title, source, year, author, and keyword topic. Special tags also exist for Research, Non-US/International, and AVA history items

From Katie Campbell: “Susan J. Ellis had an insatiable thirst for information. I first witnessed this in the early 1970s when, as a young professional, she was assigned the task of starting a volunteer program. The body of knowledge in this field was very limited, she had no training in exactly how to go about this work, and she eagerly sought out individuals and resources to educate herself. As she connected with others across the United States, Susan quickly realized that many were struggling to learn about how to lead and manage volunteers effectively. Her personal “resource library” grew steadily as she collected relevant information and generously shared it with colleagues, however and whenever possible. After starting her consulting and training business called Energize, Inc. in 1977, Susan’s reach expanded beyond the U.S. The knowledge she possessed was disseminated widely, even as she continued to gather materials and learn more from the colleagues she met during her international travel. " 

2026 Update - A Thematic Reference Guide for Volunteer Engagement Professionals (1997 – 2020 – energizeinc.com) - https://getinvolvedclearinghouse.org/training-materials/susan-j-ellis-hot-topics-reference-guide  This is an AI generated reference guide developed by well-known volunteer engagement consultant Rob Jackson to help navigate the wealth of resources created by Susan Ellis in her “Hot Topics” – (NOTE: reference Rob’s article on ways he uses AI in his work - https://robjacksonconsulting.wordpress.com/2026/05/22/four-ways-ai/)