Sara L. Wood, MBA, CAE, has spent more than 20 years helping associations figure out what’s next and how to actually get there.
Before founding The Consultist, LLC, she wore many hats in the association world, serving as an executive director, membership and marketing leader, certification professional, strategist, and facilitator. She’s worked across industries ranging from water technology and healthcare to public media, higher education, financial services, and the legal profession.

Utilizing this experience from the inside, Sara understands what it’s like to work with boards, juggle competing priorities, navigate change, and narrow group focus toward a clear path forward.

Today, through The Consultist, Sara specializes in strategic planning, facilitation, governance, organizational structure, and complex projects that need someone to bring clarity and momentum. Her approach is collaborative, practical, and built around asking the right questions and helping associations find their, “magic.”

Sara holds an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology and a BA in English from the University of Mary Washington. She is also a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and holds her FACILIT8me certificate in facilitation. Sara has been recognized as a 40 Under 40 honoree by Association Forum and a member of ASAE’s NextGen cohort.
 
At the heart of her work is a simple idea: associations already have the ingredients they need to do remarkable things. Sometimes they just need help finding their magic.