Susan Rakov

She retired in 2023 and began making music; Rakov released an album in 2025.  ¹ Her LinkedIn profile says she was a director of the Frontier Group from 1996 to 2026.  ²

Personal Life

Susan Rakov first took piano lessons at age five. She was in the choral and vocal jazz ensembles as a child.  ¹ Rakov graduated with honors from Harvard University, with a concentration in social studies.  ^{1 2}

She is married to Vince Semonsen, and they have a daughter named Emma.  ³

Rakov has written about her Reform Jewish faith.  ⁴

Advocacy Career

Susan Rakov has been a professional advocate for the environment working primarily for organizations affiliated with the Public Interest Network. ⁵ She was the former senior vice president at the Public Interest Network.  ⁶

Rakov was a community organizer from August 1985 to November 1985 at the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MassPIRG). ²

Rakov worked at the Public Interest Network from 1990 to 1996, where she held positions such as deputy chief of staff and director of grant seeking.  ²

Rakov was the founding managing director of the Frontier Group, established in February1996 as a research and policy development shop within the Public Interest Network. ^{4 2} The organization did work in Massachusetts, Colorado, and California.  ² The goal of the Frontier Group was to have a team of policy analysts that could do research to back up advocates and organizers in the states.  ^{6 2}

The Frontier Group has produced more than 500 reports, research papers, journal articles, textbook entries, curricula, and webinars about the environment and public health, threats to consumer rights and democracy, and the available routes to a better future.  ² The group issues reports grading state governments on their transparency.  ²

The Frontier Group contends there is a link between global warming and extreme weather. It says fracking harms the environment.  ⁷ The Frontier Group researches public policy matters concerning the environment, consumer issues, and transportation issues. The founders of the Frontier Group in 1996 were organizers involved in campaign strategy and messaging, as well as writers and editors. The group says it still had to learn about research and policy development. The organization describes itself as a generalist think tank.  ⁶ Rakov has claimed that America could power its future entirely with weather-dependent energy, and pointed to a March 2024 study by the Frontier Group and Environment America titled “We Have the Power.” ⁸

Music

Susan Rakov is a theatrical singer and songwriter. ⁵ Rakov uses storytelling and songs with piano performances. ⁵

On Labor Day weekend 2023, when working in advocacy, she began experiencing debilitating fatigue and other symptoms. She was unable to manage simple tasks of daily life before she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in spring 2024.  ¹ She then retired from her public policy advocacy to focus on recovery.  ¹

She turned to music for therapy, stating “making music made me less sick.”  ¹

Rakov’s first album was “To Here From There.” Her website says the album “delves deeply into what it is to be a woman, a parent, a professional and a creative in the 21st Century.” Her songs include “Go For Miles,” “Definition of Love,” “My Own Room,” “Dodgeball Day,” “Leftovers Again,” “3AM,” “To The Beach,” “Without You,” “Turn Down The Moon,” and “Jan’s Prayer.”  ⁵