Meet Joanne Sumner!

Jo Sumner recently retired from her role as co-founder and COO of The Beech Group. She grew up in the UK and has lived on 3 continents. She met her husband Michael 33 years ago, whilst living in Johannesburg South Africa and moved to Scottsdale Arizona in 2009, via 21 years in London. Jo is an entrepreneur at heart. She has owned and operated many businesses including a Seafood Restaurant, JMS Products which sold Heat Pads across the UK, Ancient Art a costume jewelry company, BeechNursing and Care Agency in Surrey, England (a domiciliary care company) and The Beech Group in Arizona. ​

How did you first become involved with Swift Youth Foundation?
I heard about SWIFT through a good friend of mine - I attended visitors day at camp - it was so lovely to see the kids having so much fun.

Why did you decide to more deeply support Swift and join the Swift Board?
I recently retired after working for the past 18 years with seniors and was looking for an opportunity to work with children - after hearing about SWIFT, their mission and visiting camp I wanted to get involved and help SWIFT in any way I can, I am excited to help SWIFT grow and achieve their goals for the future. ​

When talking about Swift, what are you most excited to tell others about?
How Swift is impacting young lives with their after school programs, summer camps, through mentorship programs and especially the mission to reach more children.

What is your favorite Swift program and why?
Not sure yet, but excited to find out! 

At Camp Swift, are you Team Grilled Cheese or Team Tomato Soup?
Definitely Grilled 🧀 ​

More about Jo...
She has spent the last 18 years helping seniors stay at home staying healthy and safe. She has been married for 31 years and has three children and two grandchildren. Her eldest son lives in Boston, her daughter in Chicago and her youngest is at ASU. She loves to travel, this year she did a tour of Normandy in France and a nature trip to Costa Rica. One of her best travel adventures was a rural tour of Japan. Eating a raw fish from head to tail was quite an experience. She joined Toastmasters in 2012 to improve her public speaking skills – she readily admits that although she is quite a talker, speaking to large groups can be a challenge and her experiences at Toastmasters has enabled her to better master this skill. Jo is passionate, optimistic and excited about the future, she truly believes that the next generation is vital to our future, she has a lot of love, experience and fun to share and as her 4-year-old granddaughter can attest – she tells great stories. As she enters this next stage of her life she is looking forward to more travel, spending time with her family, finding ways to give back that are purposeful and meaningful and working on interesting projects such as helping her best friend publish an authentic Sicilian Cookbook.