Sue McInnish, Executive Director

Alabama Civil Justice Foundation

 Sue McInnish has a history of 26 years as an advocate for children, the disadvantaged and the non-profit sector. Most of her professional career has been in philanthropy. For the past 16 years she has been the executive director of the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation (ACJF), a public foundation that supports non-profit organizations serving disadvantaged, disabled and a-risk families and children. The foundation which has awarded over $7 million in grants was created in 1993 and is currently supported by over 2,500 Alabama attorneys.

Before coming to ACJF, Sue served as executive director of the Children’s Trust Fund of Alabama (1987 – 1993), the states child abuse and neglect prevention agency and executive director of the Alabama PTA (1983 – 1987).

She has served on the boards of numerous non-profit boards. She is the current Board Chair of the Nonprofit Resource Center of Alabama, a membership and professional development organization for Alabama nonprofits. She was the 2006-2008 president of Alabama Giving, the association of grantmaking foundations, and remains is a member of the board. Sue is a long-time member of the Alabama Poverty Project Board.

The importance of early childhood education has been of primary importance in Sue’s efforts to improve life for Alabamians. In 2007, she helped to create the Alabama School Readiness Alliance which advocates for increased state-funding for quality pre-k classrooms, and she currently serves as a partner on its governing body. In 1983 while Executive Director of Alabama PTA, Sue was instrumental in the passage of the Alabama Comprehensive Kindergarten Act which provided for all children to attend kindergarten on a full-time basis.

Sue has also served on numerous other boards over the years including A+ Education Foundation, Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and VOICES for Alabama’s Children. She was a charter board member of VOICES and served as president.

She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Auburn University and a Masters in Public Administration with a major emphasis in Non-Profit Management from Auburn University Montgomery. She was honored as the Department of Political Science and Public Administration’s Outstanding Graduate Student in 1998, and in 2004 she was honored as the Outstanding Graduate by the Department.

She and her husband of 40 years have 3 grown children and 7 grandchildren.