A Lifetime of Leadership and Philanthropy

Doug and Susanne Sweeny have spent a lifetime turning ideas into action. Accomplished business leaders, authors, mentors and philanthropists, they bring the same energy and thoughtful purpose to serving their community that distinguished their careers. At the heart of their work is a simple conviction: Helping others is one of life’s greatest sources of happiness and fulfillment.

The couple met at IBM, where they built stimulating careers. Doug spent 35 years with the company, including two decades leading corporate strategy and shaping decisions about which countries to target, which products to develop and which major investments to make around the world. Having taught 2,500 IBM executives through a special program at Harvard Business School, he later distilled his expertise into a book, THINK Before You Leap: Strategic Leadership in a World of Chaos.

Susanne spent about 25 years at IBM, where she helped lead management development and trained executives from around the globe in the company’s values and principles. She later taught leadership at PricewaterhouseCoopers and became an international speaker. Her book, Transform Stress into Strength: Getting Control of Your Life, Your Mind, and Your Time, grew from audiences repeatedly asking her to put her practical wisdom into writing. Readers have since told her the book changed their lives.

After retiring, the Sweenys made Vero Beach their full-time home in 2003. Yet retirement has hardly meant slowing down. Married for 42 years, they share four children and eight grandchildren, along with an active life that has included golf, tennis, pickleball, bocce and — for Susanne — dancing. More importantly, they share a commitment to using their time, talent and resources to help others.

Both served as president of Grand Harbor Community Outreach and co-chaired its large philanthropy team, gaining a close view of dozens of local nonprofits. Today, they support a focused group of community causes that includes Celebration Grove, a venue for community events and weddings, and The Source, an organization providing people experiencing homelessness in Indian River County with a range of services that help them achieve independence and dignity. Beyond providing monetary support, they lend leadership experience and mentor young professionals in the community. At the top of their list of worthy causes is Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital.

For the Sweenys, supporting Indian River Hospital is deeply personal. Over the past several years, they have moved much of their care to Cleveland Clinic. They value the expertise of their physicians, the coordination made possible across specialties and the ability to draw on the broader Cleveland Clinic network. Their experiences as patients have given them confidence in Indian River Hospital and a strong desire to help it succeed.

That desire is especially evident in their advocacy for expanded neurological care in Vero Beach. Recognizing that many members of the region’s older population face cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, neuropathy and other neurological conditions, the Sweenys designated a generous gift toward developing local brain health services. With their help, the Center for Brain Health and Neurological Care is launching at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, ushering in expanded neurological care.

Doug and Susanne see this effort as the next chapter in a philanthropic tradition that has already helped advance cancer, heart, emergency and stroke care at Indian River Hospital. Bringing more neurological expertise close to home will spare patients and families the burden of traveling elsewhere for care, while connecting them to the strength of Cleveland Clinic’s specialists and research.

The Sweenys’ generosity is rooted in gratitude. They feel fortunate to have built rewarding careers, raised a close family and made a home in a community they love. Now they hope to model for their children and grandchildren what it means to leave the world better than they found it. Indian River Hospital is part of their estate plans as well as their current giving, a reflection of both appreciation and enduring trust.

“Maybe the best gift to your children and grandchildren is to improve the world they will be living in,” they said. For Doug and Susanne, this is more than a philosophy. It is the way they live: as devoted partners, good neighbors and generous champions of better health for all.