About Me.
I help mission-driven organizations, including school districts and other educational institutions turn research, innovations, and strategy into practical, people-centered implementation.
My work sits at the intersection of learning science, adult development, and organizational change. For over 20 years, I’ve partnered with districts, nonprofits, networks, and education teams to design, test, and refine programs, platforms, and professional learning approaches—helping organizations understand what works in real contexts before committing to adoption and scale.
I am especially skilled in co-designing and testing programs and educator-facing tools with the people who will actually use them—ensuring solutions are usable, contextually relevant, and sustainable in the real world. My approach integrates qualitative research, collaborative learning structures, intentional sense-making, and continuous improvement cycles to move teams towards productive decision-making and smart growth.
I thrive in work that is complex, relational, and iterative. I am comfortable in the ambiguity of innovation and change and bring a steady, facilitative leadership style that helps teams stay human-centered while making progress.
When I’m not working, you’ll find me outside with my three kids, my husband, and our hound dog. I’m based in Livermore, California.
Who I Work with
School districts and charter networks
leading system-wide instructional or culture transformation
Education nonprofits
scaling professional learning, student supports, or leadership development
Philanthropic organizations & intermediaries
coordinating multi-school or multi-district improvement initiatives
EdTech and innovation teams
designing educator-facing tools or student learning supports
(including emerging AI-enabled solutions)
Ways to Work Together
I help teams move from insight to action by designing, building, and refining initiatives through real world implementation. This enables confident decisions about what to adopt, adapt, and scale.
Program & Product Co-Development & Piloting
Change Management & Organizational Capacity Building
Continuous Improvement & Learning Evaluation
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Co-develop and test professional learning programs in real school environments
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Facilitate educator feedback cycles and user testing
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Collaborate with product teams to align design decisions to learning science and classroom realities
(ideal for AI-enabled education solutions, PL platforms, edtech tools, or RPPs)
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Strengthen leadership alignment, decision-making structures, and cross-functional collaboration.
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Facilitate learning experiences and coaching that build trust, belonging, and adaptive leadership.
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Support teams to navigate ambiguity, improve communication, and embed equity and well-being into daily practice and long-term strategy.
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Lead formative evaluation, needs assessment, and insight synthesis to refine programs and models.
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Design feedback and measurement systems that help teams move from insight to action and sustain improvement over time.
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Translate data into actionable insights to refine strategy and implementation
This blog explores what it actually takes to move from research and strategy to real-world implementation in education systems.
Drawing on over 20 years of work with school districts, research firms, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations, I write about the often-invisible work of change: adult learning, relational trust, co-design, pilot testing, and the messy middle between vision and adoption. My perspective sits at the intersection of the learning sciences, adult development, and organizational change—and is grounded in practice, not theory alone.
These posts are for leaders, designers, and funders who care not just about what works, but about whether it works in real contexts, with real people, under real constraints.
Latest Insights:
Human-Centered Strategy in Practice
Sarah is the implementation strategist I want by my side during any company or product launch. She is understands the big picture while meeting prospective customers or partners where the rubber meets the road. She helped us to articulate our value proposition for each stage of our release and asked hard questions that made our implementation stronger. She is a great steward of internal and external relationships. Sarah is a proactive consultant providing tools that move our process along and is always willing to jump in to take a first pass. I would highly recommend Sarah as a strategic investment that helps your organization grow.