About

pol·li·nate : verb [pä-lə-ˌnāt] — to innovate and collaborate to grow a more sustainable and vibrant community

Pollinate Asheville is dedicated to raising awareness, spreading the word, and showcasing those individuals, businesses, non-profits, groups and government projects that truly do pollinate our community.  Our growth and diversity as a community is based on cross-fertilization and collaboration.

So, hooray to you, you awesome small business.  Bravo wonderful non-profits.  Rock on artists and groups.  And, a hat tip to those innovative public servants.  Your vision and ability to collaborate makes our city buzz (to push the cliche just a little too far).

Pollinate Consulting

Pollinate Asheville is maintained by Susanne Hackett of Pollinate Consulting: Innovative, Community-minded Outreach.  With a mission to develop stronger communities by building collaborations between local businesses, government organizations and non-profits, Pollinate Consulting provides innovative social and media outreach strategies in the areas of the arts, education, the environment, community development, and developmental disabilities .

Pollinate Consulting can build and implement custom plans to grow your business and projects, while strengthening the larger community. For more information, please email pollinateconsulting@gmail.com

Pollinate Consulting emerged along Susanne Hackett’s twisted, winding path, including diversions in:

Lifting heavy trays of expensive food.

Building structures with straw-bales on a reservation in Montana.

Riding in the back of an orange station wagon with wood paneling.

Listening to music from the 1950s.

Teaching college engineering majors how to make art.

Living in a tent during summers between 2002 and 2005.

Jogging in the corn fields and along the river.

Walking (in Birkenstocks) to a fancy office building in Washington, DC.

Listening.

Digging, and

Dancing.

A native of the mountains of Northwestern Pennsylvania, Susanne is the oldest of three.  In the 90’s she tight-rolled her pants until just past the point when that was cool. She has B.A. degree in Communications and a M.Ed. in Art Education both from Penn State, but has learned the importance of community from her sister, Amanda, who has Down syndrome and builds community by pollinating.

Professionally, Susanne has extensive experience in public relations and outreach in several cities, including Washington D.C. and Asheville. She followed the smell of oil paints and encaustic to Asheville in 2006 for a programs director position with an arts non-profit, and has had large roles in initiatives such as: WORD Poetry Slam for middle and high school youth, the Teaching Artist Boot Camp, POP Asheville music festival, and most recently Pollinate Consulting. She has consulted on many special projects, ranging from affordable housing developments, to coffee-shops, to arts and education initiatives.

She lives in West Asheville with her crazy cattle dog mix, Maizey. She hates bananas, and loves ketchup.  She does not own an iron.