Systems for the common good are eroding.
More than ever, your constituents are counting on you.
Build Board leadership that your mission — and community — deserves.
I help CEO’s (or ED’s) and Board Chairs to lead and adapt with steadiness and care — together.
Save time and deepen trust with routines and systems for stability and renewal—even in disruption.
Create clear agreements and accountability for your board — while preventing burnout.
Grow financial resources and attract the right board member
Identify and plan for adaptations to your old models.
Even in the best of times, nonprofits have built-in collaboration challenges.
Board Chairs often Ask….
How can a volunteer Board not involved in day to day work evaluate the ED/CEO well?
How do we encourage innovation and long term thinking when staff are overtaxed?
How do we inspire and help Board members honor agreements?
Is traditional strategic planning even relevant now?
ED’s and CEO’s often Ask….
How do I challenge and inspire Board members to step up— when they are my “boss”?
How do we help board members “get” what it’s like for our constituents and staff during this time — without their over-reaction or paralysis?
I want to plan for succession — but the steps need careful consideration.
Learn more about how ED’s and CEO’s can install practices and rhythms designed to support Boards through unsteady times.
Testimonials
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Sarah Lightfoot listens deeply and does her homework. She arrived at each session well prepared but genuinely curious. Sarah gently holds the balance of thinking and feeling as she facilitates difficult and necessary conversations.
Rhonda James, CEO, STAND To End Family Violence
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Sarah’s facilitation style allows our conversations to flow freely, while providing structure and guidance to create actionable goals to improve the way we function as a team. Her empathetic and responsive facilitation style helped to create a safe space for the whole team to engage.
Joanna French, MA; Research & Policy, Innovate Public Schools
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With Sarah as a thought partner, I am able to make faster and more courageous decisions. I can lead more effectively knowing that we have examined all the angles and set the stage for powerful conversations.
Ginger Jui, Executive Director, East Bay Bike
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In the past, strategic planning has not been worth the effort — it didn’t lead to better outcomes. It’s different this time, though. In working with you, I now have a vision for a process that will set our agency up for success in the years to come.
Carol Carillo, MSW, Executive Director, Child Abuse Prevention Council of Contra Costa County
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Sarah is one of the best listeners I've worked with. She listened carefully and made adjustments to the retreat agenda to meet our needs. At an important moment in our organization, her facilitation of Board and staff led to a new level of mutual understanding and action planning around fundraising and programs.
Tracy Lamb, Executive Director, NEWS Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services, Napa
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I’ve been a participant in Sarah’s work “live” and online, and she is one of the best facilitators I’ve ever seen. She is especially rigorous about leading inclusive, equitable spaces that actualize the voices of everyone in the room.
Julie Hankes, PCC, Director, Alumni Education & Strategic Outreach, Stanford GSB
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The way you organized the entire Strategic Planning Committee process, built relationships quickly, and designed a VERY complex strategic planning process utilizing Appreciative Inquiry, Rumelt’s theory, and the latest in Change Theory was truly a sight to behold!
Kia Afcari, Director, Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley and Founder, Caravann Consulting
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Her facilitation style is a rare and skillful blend, deeply empathetic, laser-focused, and free of fluff. She listens with intention, moves with efficiency, and holds both complexity and emotion with grace. In our time working with her, Sarah showed up prepared, curious, and deeply attuned — balancing steady expertise with a genuine warmth that made space for vulnerability and truth. We are grateful for Sarah’s guidance on our community’s journey toward more peace, harmony, safety, and delight.
Anonymous client experiencing community conflict
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Everyone listened to each other. Guidelines and norms were set, openness and validation were present.
Large-group convening participant
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I liked the small table groups and how they were led because I and many others have difficulties speaking in big groups. This brought intimacy, and I liked having people taking turns and being able to talk without being judged.
Large-group convening participant
Case Studies
