Welcome!
Welcome!
I've been consulting since 1998: in a boutique firm, then a national one, and as an independent since late 2010. Consulting is my second career. I went straight to law school after receiving my undergraduate degree (French and music performance) at the University of Iowa. It didn't take long to realize that the courtroom wasn't for me and return to graduate school. There, I prepared for a new direction studying nonprofit management and public policy analysis with a healthy dose of program evaluation thrown in. This new course of study led me to the world of private philanthropy and then to consulting.
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I spent the decade before hanging up my shingle in the nonprofit consulting group of a leading accounting firm where I was part of a dynamic practice with local (Minnesota), regional (upper Midwest), and national clients. It dramatically deepened my experience as...
Your field guide in the complex world of nonprofits and local government.
the once and future musician who became
a trained mediator, funder, and evaluator
a recovered attorney with government experience
raised in the South with Midwest and international roots
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Put it all together and I bring a strong analytical background to your situation, the ability to draw individuals out for a robust discussion, and a passion for helping others do their jobs better.
Contact me. I'd love to hear from you.
BTW, I am fully vaccinated and more than happy to provide proof of such should it be required.
About
Sara has been a management consultant since 1998.
In that time, she has assisted hundreds of organizations — from small, all-volunteer start-ups to a multi-billion-dollar funder.​ Her work includes board development, planning and facilitation, program development and evaluation, organizational assessments, and related services. The bulk of her portfolio is with arts and culture nonprofits, local government, and – on her best days – where the two meet. It is a varied practice, but one that is always dedicated to helping clients do their jobs better.
Sara was part of a national consulting practice from 2000 to 2010. During that period, she led organizational development, planning, program evaluation, and search engagements; made numerous presentations on governance, evaluation and organizational change; managed the firm’s annual nonprofit conference; and managed marketing efforts within the firm’s nonprofit and government consulting group. She left the firm in 2010 to set up her own business –
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guiding clients in strategy,
governance & effectiveness.
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In the years since then, she has been honored to serve new and old clients in a busy solo practice.
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Prior to 2000, Sara developed expertise as a private funder and a government attorney, serving as program officer to the James Ford Bell Foundation in Minnesota and as a litigator for the Iowa Department of Human Service.
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Sara’s education includes graduate study at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs master’s program with a concentration in nonprofit management. She’s trained in program evaluation, conflict mediation, and board consulting (the last by BoardSource). She received a juris doctor with high distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in French with a minor in music performance from the University of Iowa.
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She is a partner member of the Association of Governmental Risk Pools (AGRiP) and stays sharp as a member of BoardSource (Certificate in Nonprofit Board Consulting, 2018), the American Evaluation Association, and the International Listening Association.
Her community service has included officer roles with WFIU Public Radio’s Community Advisory Board, the Monroe County Humane Association, the IAP2 USA Midwest Chapter, the Textile Center of Minnesota, and the Humphrey Institute Alumni Board; as well as work on the Nonprofit Alliance of Monroe County's training/outreach committee, the IAP2 USA board of directors, the Charities Review Council's marketing committee, and the League of Women Voters of Minneapolis' advisory board.