Founder, Hammer & Associates
Suzanne Hammer is the founder of Hammer & Associates, a global philanthropy advisory firm based in the Denver, Colorado area. Suzanne has worked with both large and small family foundations, family offices, wealth advisors, and enterprises since 2005. She has launched and managed private foundations, healthcare foundations, and corporate giving programs. She has facilitated impactful strategy, governance, and grantmaking; led processes to capture family values and legacy, and engage the next generation; and connected funders in strengthening the communities and issues they care about.
Suzanne started Hammer & Associates to connect philanthropists with communities so that they can help each other. Prior to her work in philanthropy, she spent more than a decade managing multi-million-dollar corporations—plus nearly a half-dozen years in the nonprofit sector. This background helps her bridge the gap between corporations, communities, and nonprofits—worlds with different languages, cultures, goals, and objectives. She excels at bringing seemingly disparate people together, across different agendas and perspectives, to get good things done.
Suzanne co-produced Philanthropy in the Family Office: A Global Perspective, and has produced a series of toolkits for family offices called EngagedPhilanthropy™: A Family Office Guide to Meaningful Giving, including Laying the Groundwork; Balancing Passion and Strategy; Making the Most of Family Dynamics; and International Giving. With her team, she research and developed Funding Solutions to the Opioid Crisis: An Assessment of Needs and Opportunities on behalf of a private foundation client.
Suzanne is a dedicated Rotarian and a backcountry skier who has polar-plunged into the icy waters of Antarctica (three times!) and lived to tell the tale. Speaking nationally and internationally, Suzanne takes a warm, sincere approach in sharing lessons learned as she guides others toward practicing philanthropy that is both meaningful and measurable. She lives in Denver with her husband, Ritchie, and cats Odette and Odelie, and in addition to skiing, enjoys hiking, camping, cycling, and golf.
Reach Suzanne at SuzanneHammer.com or via LinkedIn.
The change I want to make in this world is helping people uncover what it is they stand for. What are you passionate about, angry about? What issues drive you to action? Everyone can be a philanthropist, and everyone can make a difference. – Suzanne Hammer
