Susan Turnbull, Vice Chair

Susan Turnbull is a life-long community activist who has worked in numerous campaigns and Democratic Party leadership positions. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, since elected in 2005.

As Vice Chair, Ms. Turnbull serves as an instrumental adviser on a number of key Democratic programs and initiatives. For a number of years she has been seen as an expert in womens outreach, Jewish outreach, and many other areas of political strategy. She is a frequent Democratic Party spokesperson on international cable television and talk radio programs, appearing regularly on FOX News and MSNBC. She has campaigned for the Democratic Party and its candidates at functions in more than 35 states, the District of Columbia, and with Democrats Abroad all over the world. She regularly mentors women running for elected office, is a familiar face to our nations young democrats and is the Senior Democratic Strategist for Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP).

A member of the DNC since 1992, Ms. Turnbull has served the Party in a number of formal capacities. She has served on the DNC Executive Committee more than a decade; she was appointed DNC Deputy Chair in 2003; she was the elected Chair of the DNC Women's Caucus 1997-2003; she was named as one of the founding Co-Chairs of the DNC Women's Vote Center; and she was the National Chair of the DNC Women's Leadership Forum from 2002-2005. Ms. Turnbull was a platform speaker at the 2000 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles, California, and chaired the Conventions Womens Caucus events. She was co-organizer of the womens events at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. At the local level, Ms. Turnbull was elected Vice Chair of the Montgomery County, Maryland Democratic Party in 1990, and then as Party Chair in 1993.

With a background in Urban Planning and Design, Ms. Turnbull has worked in a variety of legislative and governmental positions for more than 30 years. She currently serves as Senior Advisor and Grant Consultant to several Democratic Members of Congress, including Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressmen Nick Lampson, Brad Ellsworth and Tim Mahoney. As the principal of an Interior Space Planning business, Ms. Turnbull has provided pro-bono design services for the new 30,000 square foot headquarters of the Jewish Social Service Agency in Rockville, Maryland.

In 2005 Ms. Turnbull was recognized as one of Jewish Womens Magazines Top Ten Women to Watch. She is also the only person to have been awarded both the Montgomery County Democratic Party Democrat of the Year (2000) and the Maryland Democratic Party Distinguished Service Award (2003).

Ms. Turnbull serves on several charitable boards; she is a life member of the board of the Jewish Social Service Agency of Metropolitan Washington, a board member of the Jewish Council on Public Affairs (JCPA), a board member of Jewish Womens International (JWI) and a founding board member of the Bolechow Jewish Heritage Society.

Susan Turnbull lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband Bruce.  They are proud parents of two adult sons, Joshua and David.