Susan Jacobs

Susan Jacobs is the Founder/Executive Director of a grassroots nonprofit, Wheels of Success (WOS). WOS provides transportation to keep working families working. WOS works to help low to middle income working families, typically those either ineligible for or not desiring to take government assistance due to the negative stigma.

Susan previously ran a staffing agency that specialized in the hospitality industry and low-level clerical positions. She placed employees referred to her by the Salvation Army, local Women's shelters, and other community agencies. This experience gave her a true understanding of the working poor and their needs. She discovered that you could give a person the right clothes and the right resume, but if they had no transportation, they wouldn't be able to obtain or even keep the right job. These people were the ones that were falling through society's cracks and tumbling into a life of despair, living paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet.

During this time, Susan found herself in an abusive relationship with few options on how to move forward. She decided to walk out of the relationship with no car, no job, and no place to live. She slowly built herself back up with the help of her family, and it validated the gap in the community for a unique program that could help working families keep or obtain their employment that they might otherwise lose due to transportation issues. In 2003 she successfully created Wheels of Success.

Susan serves on the Board of Altrusa International, and is spearheading a project called Cases for Kids, which collects suitcases and totes for foster children as they relocate through the foster care system. She has served on the Board of Directors for Dress for Success, and organized their first major luncheon in the Tampa area. She is actively involved in e-Women Network, a Professional Women's Networking Group and holds several other business memberships.