Susan Amat embodies an entrepreneurial spirit, a spirit she developed in her teens that not only has led to success in her professional life but also has benefited the many community and charitable programs in which she has become involved.
From serving on the boards to coaching baseball and soccer for seven years at Coral Gables Youth Center, Amat truly is a well-rounded individual who seems to effortlessly juggle the demands of work and home and can often be seen around town with her adorable baby daughter, Frances.
From an early age, Amat shined. As an International Baccalaureate student at Coral Gables Senior High, Amat first ventured into the music business as a concert promoter at age 15. This was just the beginning for this serial entrepreneur who started and ran a successful record label, and even developed a television show that aired on the E! Network. She also developed the first CD-rom magazine and was a consultant to media outlets, record labels, and retail stores on marketing and strategy issues.
Amat later moved on to the healthcare sector, creating products focusing on health monitoring and preventing childhood obesity. Having consulted extensively on brand development and management, strategic planning, and marketing in industries including high-tech, retail, health care, and non-profits, Amat currently serves as a lecturer in the Department of Management at the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration, teaching courses in strategy, entrepreneurship, and organizational behavior.
She is the executive director of the Launch Pad at Toppel Career Center, an innovator resource center at the UM.
Amat has a PhD in Strategic Entrepreneurship from the UM with course work in Industrial Engineering, Management, Computer Information Systems, Biomedical Engineering, Educational and Psychological Studies, Communication; a Master of Business Administration from UM, with highest honors and specializations in Computer Information Systems, Management, Marketing, and a Bachelor of Arts from UM with a major in Psychology, Music Media and Industry, Liberal Arts.
She is the recipient of the National Association of College Employers 2010 Innovation Excellence Award for Student Engagement is the most recent of her awards that are too numerous to list.
Her service giving back to her community is equally long and impressive but, for this month, top of the list is her service as a board member of the new Coral Gables Museum scheduled to open on Oct. 10. Amat has served on that board since 2007 as well as that of the Historical Museum of South Florida and on the National Marketing Board, National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.
In 2010 alone, Amat was the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Florida Judge; served on the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Technology and Bioscience Executive Committee; was the chamber’s Minority Business of the Year Judge and the Miami Herald Business Plan Competition Judge. A founding member, MIT Fire Circle, 2005-09, Amat also volunteers for MIT Enterprise Forum of South Florida as well as the Coral Gables Relay for Life, Special Olympics and the American Heart Association.
