Susannah Bankhead is a senior claims representative for Zenith Insurance Company. She has progressively worked her way from an entry-level clerical job to a senior-level position over the past decade. Susannah’s expertise ranges from the analysis of California’s complex labor code and workers’ compensation case law to engagement with state and national government agencies.

Susannah graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in Language Studies and concentrations in both Italian and Linguistics of Romance Languages. Susannah co-founded the Bellezza Arte Cultura Intelligenza (BACI) club, which linked local Italian immigrants to UCSC students studying Italian. Susannah also participated in the Dante Alighieri Society of Santa Cruz an organization dedicated to the study and promotion of Italian culture and language.

After graduation, Susannah worked abroad in Italy, where she taught English and served as a translator for Peace Reporter, an online nonprofit newspaper highlighting the stories of refugees and migrants fleeing war zones around the world.

Susannah enjoys reading (alternating between SCOTUS rulings, dystopian fiction, and stories of the empowerment of women and children), watching bad sci-fi, and cooking (primarily foods grown by her husband in their backyard garden). Her culinary blog explores the trials and tribulations of maintaining a seasonal diet in San Diego, a city without seasons. Susannah dreams of one day combining her passion for food and her call to social justice by opening a farm-to-table soup kitchen/restaurant staffed entirely by members of society’s most marginalized groups.