Susan S. Trout, PhD, Co-Founder and Executive Director

When we commit to showing another way
to ourselves and others, we take the first
step toward our ultimate destiny as human
beings: to evolve as souls by extending the
gifts of our learning in service to others.

~ From To Show Another Way ~ 

Susan Trout has focused her life on a single purpose – to understand service as a way to live in harmony with the soul’s true nature. As a result, the teachings within her seminal work, The Soul and Service Trilogy, and the newly published To Show Another Way: How to Learn, Heal, and Serve at a Time of Crisis on Planet Earth, synthesize universal spiritual teachings, psychological and neurological research, inner revelation, and practical application. Susan writes and teaches worldwide about service, leadership, soul development, and group life.

Susan co-founded and pioneered the Institute for the Advancement of Service, in Washington, DC in 1980.  Its school of thought is known as The Clarion Way – the name given to the collective teachings of The Soul and Service Trilogy. Throughout the 45-year life of the Institute for the Advancement of Service, Susan served as its Executive Director and President of the Board. Following the Institute's official closing on March 1, 2025, she has continued to dedicate her efforts to sharing the transformative teachings of The Soul and Service Trilogy with individuals, leaders, groups, and organizations who are searching for concrete ways to usher in the new world through the free distribution of her books (see The Bookgiving Project page for more information).