Susan Bales

Susan Nall Bales is the founder of the nonprofit FrameWorks Institute that studies how people think about public issues. FrameWorks has contributed to the public discourse on aging, health, immigration, food, community and mental health, child development, education, climate change, racial disparities, criminal justice and the role of government. In 2015, FrameWorks received the MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative & Effective Institutions. For more than 15 years, Bales led a multi-disciplinary team of social scientists and communications practitioners in the development and application of Strategic Frame Analysis® –an innovative method of conducting and applying framing research, both descriptively and prescriptively. Each year, FrameWorks trains thousands of policy leaders, scientists and advocates in narrative techniques based on sound social science. Bales has published widely on framing, science translation and communications for social good, in peer-reviewed and popular journals, and has lectured at institutions from Harvard University to the White House. Retired as CEO, she currently serves on FrameWorks’ Board of Directors. She also serves on the National Advisory Council for the Couse-Sharp Historic Site in Taos, New Mexico and on the National Advisory Committee of the Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools National Historic Park Campaign. She is a judge on the Wise Heads Panel for the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change 2024 grants competition. She divides her time between Santa Fe and Southern California.