Last updated March 11, 2019

Work Perspectives:
Randi Sumner has over twenty years of experience shepherding associations towards success. She has worked for a wide range of non-profit organizations, ranging from those with almost no budget and staff to those with a $400 million budget and over 1,000 employees.

Throughout her over 20-year career, Sumner has successfully envisioned and initiated new, uncharted, and profit-driven “bootstrap startup” projects within a wide variety of mission-driven organizations. The impact of her role in several projects helped to transform business models as well as drive energy into stagnant organizations.

Sine 2007, Sumner has led a wide variety of strategic programs at IEEE servicing over 430,000 members of both IEEE and it’s more than 50 Technical Communities.

Currently she holds the position of Senior Director, Strategy & Entrepreneurship for IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional society where she spearheaded the launch of IEEE’s Entrepreneurship initiative. This first-of-its-kind IEEE initiative inspires a global community for technology founders, engineers working in startups, as well as the vendors and funders helping to scale these businesses. Her efforts have brought the IEEE’s global resources to technology entrepreneurs while inspiring new style events, virtual communities, and a video channel dedicated to startups.

Sumner brings to her leadership perspective, the knowledge and wisdom acquired as the Chief Staff Executive of the New Jersey Society of Association Executives, an organization that serviced Association Professionals in New Jersey before it’s 2010 merger into the Mid-Atlantic Society of Association Executives. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Executive Director of the New Jersey Apartment Association. During that tenure, the association doubled in both staff and budget. In addition to her executive skills, she has been a strategy consultant, career and presentation coach, and a professional speaker.

Personal Perspectives:
Randi is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and a graduate of Brandeis University.

Randi is the mother of three kids. Two who turned 17, and one who left teenagerhood behind to turn 20 while she was on her journey to 50 in 2020…. a truly different kind of year.  The family has two rescue dogs: including (as of the 2019 launch of this blog) Cagney old cocker spaniel/poodle mix and Luna, a not yet 2 year old pitbull/boxer mix. (2020 Update: Rescue Dogs Flip Flop and Smilee added to the family and often one additional Foster Dog in the house at any given moment.)

She is an avid science fiction fan, coffee addict, family board & card game enthusiast, a dog & cat rescue proponent, and in 2020 learned to crochet among the many ways she amuses herself.