Susie Parsons, who has died aged 65 following a stroke, was a feminist, a socialist and a campaigner, dedicated to challenging and innovatory projects in the voluntary and public sectors. Starting at the housing charity Shelter in the 1970s, she played a number of key leadership roles, before founding, in 2005, a management consultancy that has shaped the fortunes of organisations such as the National Aids Trust, the Barrow Cadbury Trust, the British Psychotherapy Foundation and the National Childbirth Trust.
From 1994, Susie was executive director and then chief executive of London Lighthouse, a charity providing advice, treatment, support and hospice care for people with HIV and Aids. London Lighthouse became the focus of a great deal of public interest, not least because of frequent visits by Diana, Princess of Wales. As new drugs became available and funding was redirected towards their development, the challenge for Susie was to steer the Lighthouse away from its role as a hospice and towards lifelong support for people living with HIV. In achieving this, she faced a great deal of hostility from those dedicated to the Lighthouse’s original purpose.
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