Susan Boré sits in her Clarke Hall office.
Dura Bernardo|Marlin Chronicle
Stepping into the office in Clarke 109, her energy and enthusiasm immediately draws attention. That office is home to the World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads (WACGHR) and their president, Susan Boré. She sits at her desk by the window admiring the view, wearing her striped black and white shirt and her glasses for work.
The boxes on the floor hint their recent relocation to campus, but her sense of purpose goes beyond the physical space.
As she speaks, she expresses herself with gestures, a sincere smile and a soft tone of voice.
Boré just turned 58 years old. She enjoys traveling, cooking, hiking and spending time with her family. She’s also a mother to her 13-year-old daughter and 3 stepchildren whom she loves like her own.
“Being a mom is the most important job––and the most joyous––I’ve ever experienced. Raising the next generation with time, patience and love is to me the greatest duty with which we are entrusted,” Boré said.
Boré served in the Marine Corps for 27 years and retired in 2016. As a Colonel, she commanded two battalions and served in several overseas combat operations.
Showing her commitment to the community, she used to be a youth swim coach at the Blocker Norfolk Family YMCA. As a volunteer, she won an award and recognition for keeping kids safe and strong in the water in 2022.
She is also an active member of the board of directors of Valor Run, which honors the women who gave their lives during combat operations since 9/11 and provides scholarships to the children of women who have served.
Intern Lucie Six (left) and Office Coordinator Corinne Hatfield (right) working in the WACGHR office at VWU.
Duda Bernardo|Marlin Chronicle
The Marine Corps looked very different in 1989 than it looks now, as a fairly male dominated organization, “But that challenge fed me,” Boré said.
Boré didn’t expect to take a leadership position after she retired, but she loves a good challenge.
Boré leads with passion. She is proud of her work but remains humble.
Boré has been the president of the WACGHR for the past two and a half years. She first joined the council while in the Marine Corps, and officially became a board member in 2021.
The WACGHR has been in this region since 1969, providing programming, information, education and dialog about international issues.
It was only about a year ago that President Scott D. Miller extended the offer for them to move their office to campus. Boré says she is delighted to have their office at Virginia Wesleyan.
“You have an excellent international affairs program, but also you’re very centrally located in the Hampton Roads region,” Boré said.
The WACGHR hosts many events right here on campus. A program called Great Decisions happens every Saturday from January to March at Blocker Hall. They provide speakers to topics chosen by the Foreign Policy Association in New York.
Boré (second from right) with (left to right) Dr. Richard Maass, the Chair of the Norfolk NATOfest committee, Polish ambassador Marek Magierowski, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation General Philippe Lavigne of France, Lithuanian ambassador Audra Plepytė and Romanian ambassador Dan-Andrei Mararu.
Susan Boré|Courtesy
The events consist of a reception, an expert speaker and an Q&A period, which is Boré’s favorite part. What Boré loves about the council is that it provides a safe space for people to talk about political issues, global issues, international policy and American policy.
“We want to provide a safe place for dialogue, a place where the facts exist in the room with our experts, and we can have conversations around that,” Boré said.
Passionate about having interns and young people on their staff, Boré said she would love for VWU students to join their team as interns.
“In addition to learning, you know, about foreign affairs, international global issues, really, in our office, you learn how to run a business or a nonprofit,” Boré said.
Boré always had a natural interest in global affairs and what is going on in the world.
Her deployments abroad and her marriage to a French person have influenced her international perspective. “It is probably what inspires me to ensure that others have the opportunity to have an insight in other ways of doing things,” Boré said.
Boré said it has been fascinating to learn from the inside how two countries that are very similar in Western Democracy handle political, human and society issues differently.
“When you only know the United States it is different to even think outside of the box about other ways that we could do it,” Boré said.
With a passion for mentoring young women, she empowers them so they don’t feel the same way she has felt earlier in her career.
Boré said she had to figure things out by herself while in the Marine Corps. “There were not a lot of people that looked like me,” she said. There was nobody to tell her if she was doing things right.
Looking back at her story, she believes that a lot of energy was spent asking herself whether her contributions were making a difference or not.
“If you’re working hard and you believe in the mission, the best self you can bring is yourself,” she said. “You are going to bring a perspective to that organization that no one else can bring. So own it, and be proud of it, and have confidence in it and yourself.”
The more one talks to people around her, the more one finds how humble she is.
Lucie Six, who is an intern at the office this semester, is a French and an International Business major at Concordia University. According to her, Boré is like a renaissance woman, good at many things, surprising in many ways.
Six thinks that all the experiences Boré had in her life could have turned her into a tough, stern woman, “but for some reason, I feel like it just made her even sweeter, more appreciative of people around her,” Six said.
“She’s sweet, yet she knows how to get things done. And for a woman in business, it’s so inspiring, ” Six said.
Corinne Hatfield, JMU graduate and office coordinator for WACGHR, started as an intern and was hired less than a year after.
With a unique relationship between them, Hatfield says Boré is her boss and mentor, but also very nurturing. Hatfield sees her as a role model who helped her multiply her skills. “I’ve learned so much in a relatively short time, and I’ve become really much more confident in my skills,” Hatfield said.
Six said that working with such knowledgeable women in the office creates a nice atmosphere, and that they deserve the same opportunities as any men. “But we don’t always have that opportunity, and she gives it to us because she acquired that respect and leadership through a long line of work, and she’s able to give it to us now,” Six said.
Hatfield said that as a woman in a leadership position, Boré makes her feel like she can do it all. She said Boré found a good balance between work, family and life, and Hatfield hopes to achieve a similar model in the future. Hatfield respects the fact that Boré focused on her career and took a mother role later in life; she feels like she will follow a similar path.
Boré is interested in the thoughts and ideas of those around her. She says she is a consensus leader. Six sees her as a mother figure. Hatfield sees her as a hands-off and supportive leader.
Six said that Boré is very adaptable, “she knows how to lead people, depending on who they are.” She can be firm or soft depending on how people will respond the best.
Hatfield said Boré likes to let them make things happen. Boré is supportive and willing to help, but very confident in her and Six, “she knows that we’re smart young women and we’re capable. And she really wants us to kind of see that as we do our work,” Hatfield said.
Boré said she values all young people equally, and that she believes the different genders bring different problem-solving techniques.
“I have a small place in my heart to lead and work with women because I believe there are still vestiges of women bringing less confidence in themselves to the workplace, and I would like to improve that,” Boré said. “Introspection about where one fits in an organization is extremely important, it leads to self-improvement and growth, however when one spends an inordinate amount of time concerned about whether they measure up, that’s lost energy. Women don’t understand their worth as well as men do.”
She said that when women look for a job they are thinking of the things they cannot do, which leads to them asking for less and being less confident. “It comes more naturally to men to have a bravado about what they can do,” she said.
Even though she is humble, she believes in her own strength. She believes that the young people she mentors will have a leg up on their peers with some very distinct skills, “because I’ve been through it all and I take the time to share that with people,” she said.
Boré is confident, driven and committed to the council’s mission of promoting international understanding and dialogue. As a generous woman leader, she feels fulfilled helping lessen the divide in our country.
As the nation celebrates Women’s History Month, Boré’s story serves as a reminder that the path to success can have its obstacles. Boré’s ability to be a loving mother, a retired Colonel in the Marine Corps, a leader in the non-profit sector and a mentor for the next generation of female leaders underscores the many contributions women continue to make in the world around them.
Boré poses with intern Lucie Six (left) and Office Coordinator Corinne Hatfield (right).
Duda Bernardo|Marlin Chronicle
Duda Bernardo
mdefreitasbernardo@vwu.edu
