From Our Founder

On November 2, 2016, I turned 60. A week later, I was deeply impacted by the aftermath of the campaign. A week after that, I learned I had tested positive for breast cancer.

Motivated by the experience of a ticking clock, a beautiful granddaughter and a grandson on the way, I doubled down and launched my own firm to deepen and accelerate the work I’ve been doing around Gender Partnership, and Diversity & Inclusion over the past couple of years.

Launching a company at 60 years old was never in my plan; however, I, like so many others, have been deeply impacted by the recent displays of bias in our communities. Allinium was created on the heels of this, to examine and address the national context that exists to perpetuate divisiveness and exclusion.

In September of 1997 I was a Founding Board Member for the Optical Women’s Association committed to supporting and promoting the professional development of women involved in all facets of the optical industry. Eighteen years later I was introduced to the Institute for Women’s Leadership Founder Rayona Sharpnack, only to discover that in those 18 years, there had been minimal progress made towards advancing women into senior leadership positions in nearly every industry.

After spending thousands of hours immersing myself in the study of Gender Partnership and Unconscious Bias, I discovered that the only way to make real progress was creating authentic and inclusive cultures. I am now proud to consider myself among the subject matter experts committed to cracking the code on this issue of equality. I am grateful for the mentorship, advice and guidance of the committed, socially aware, and diligent experts in this field.

I am proud to launch Allinium, Inc. as a licensed provider of the work developed over the past 25 years by the Institute for Women’s Leadership and Institute for Gender Partnership. I am grateful to Rayona for her lifetime commitment to this conversation and consider her to be a trusted and important advisor. I, along with Rayona and our teams of extraordinary consultants, will continue to develop programs and strategies to allow individuals and organizations to maximize the unique contribution of all employees. We are committed to creating truly inclusive cultures that will cause a massive shift in this millennium.

‍Susan Elliott-Rink

CEO & Founder – Allinium, Inc.