Honorary Advisory Council

Susan Lutz, founder and Past President, Advisor

Susan Lutz is the Past President and founder of Inspiring HANDS. She served in this role from 2014-2019. Susan is proud to be among an amazing team who originally founded the organization and who worked to establish the IH Scholarship Fund. It has been among the greatest privileges of her career.

Susan believes that together we can do more and always wishes to inspire others to be generous with their time and resources to make a positive change in the lives of those in need. She also believes that life is a party and everyone is invited! So she called upon many of her friends and local business leaders to form a non-profit organization, operated 100% by volunteers, that gives 100% of the proceeds directly back to individuals who are in need within the greater Houston community. Together, in November 2014, they started Inspiring HANDS and the IH Scholarship Fund for individuals of all ages with financial and special needs.

Today, Inspiring HANDS is a strong and well established non-profit organization. Upon Susan’s departure, IH had provided nearly $95,000 in scholarships to 124 individuals with financial and special needs. IH also established a reserve scholarship fund which held $80,000 for future scholarships.

As President, Susan oversaw the core functions of the organization to enable it to achieve its long term vision. Areas of focus include strategy, finance, board management, fundraising, and program delivery. When she is not volunteering her time, she holds the C.F.O. and H.R. Director position at Challenger Drilling, Inc., a company that she and her husband Jeff started in 1998, and enjoys time spent with him, their two sons, their first grandchild, and four fur babies, preferably at the beach.

Tom Fulton, Advisor

Mr. Tom Fulton serves as the President of InterMoor, Inc. Mr. Fulton has over twenty five years’ experience in the offshore oil & gas industry including design and installation of mooring systems, as well as general marine operations. During his previous tenure as Vice President of Engineering & Projects at InterMoor and Technip Offshore Moorings, he has been extensively involved with research, development and implementation of new mooring technology. Mr. Fulton graduated with a BS degree in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, in 1987. He is a registered Professional Engineer.

John Kauffman, Advisor

In 1976 John H. Kauffman III started in the fire sprinkler industry working at the same company as his father and uncle. In late 1977 he moved to Houston and has been in the fire sprinkler business here ever since. In 2006 he and his son Conor founded Kauffman Company. His background in design, sales and management has been across several companies. He was a founding member of the Texas Fire Sprinkler Contractors Association, served as an instructor at the Texas A&M Fireman’s Training School, been an adviser to the State Fire Marshal, served on the Advisory Board of the Houston Chapter of the AGC, is currently serving as a director of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, and works continuously to promote the life safety aspects of fire sprinklers across our community.