My consulting with local governments, state agencies, and nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area is collaborative by design. Across facilitation, training, needs assessment, and community outreach services, my aim is to create inclusive processes for teams and communities to leverage existing expertise and generate new insights that support equitable programs, decision-making, work streams, and outcomes.
Design
Need support with process?
Knowing the outcomes you want is different from getting to them. From generating shared understandings of problems to making important team decisions, let’s work together to determine the right process.
Facilitation
Need someone in the room?
Expert facilitation can enhance the engagement, productivity, and sense of ownership of your team. Let me bring structured, inclusive processes to your next meeting or retreat.
Strategy
Need a thought partner?
Oftentimes, the best ideas emerge in a collective strategy session. Let’s put our heads together to generate ideas, develop road maps, and problem-solve for your organization and team.
Reviews
Jen Cavenaugh, Cavenaugh Consulting and Mayor of Piedmont
“Sarah brings compassion, empathy, and purpose to her work with teams who are leading on the frontlines of climate action and sustainability. Sarah is a masterful facilitator and change maker. Her flexible leadership style allows her to lean in or out as needed by her audience or teammates. When she communicates, she makes room for different learning styles and levels of familiarity with the material so she meets learners where they need her the most. I look forward to working with Sarah in the future.”
Eliana Batrez, Sustainable Contra Costa
“I’ve had the privilege of collaborating closely with Sarah for the past year and a half on our nonprofit’s community engagement program. Her involvement has significantly enhanced its success. Sarah’s expertise in community organizing, facilitation, and community building has been instrumental in guiding our organization into uncharted territory, particularly in coalition building.
As an experienced facilitator and community builder, Sarah adeptly navigates our team through the process of distilling main ideas and prompting us to consider the broader impact of our work. She has a remarkable talent for making our tasks clear and straightforward. Sarah has helped us reconcile our initial vision with our current actions, recognizing the positive evolution in our organization’s mindset and approach. Her influence has led us to reevaluate our engagement strategies, favoring a more intentional, inclusive, and collaborative approach that empowers community members to engage authentically.
On a personal level, I am grateful for the opportunity to work closely with Sarah, benefiting from her mentorship as I strive to become a more effective and confident facilitator.”
Alex Lunine, Sustainable Solano
“Sarah was incredibly responsive and invested in bolstering our organization’s capacity to facilitate community events and empower youth to be leaders during said meetings.
During the project she provided tips and advice regarding my ability to facilitate community meetings, provided templates for planning and helped me plan an upcoming event, and created a facilitation guide and training for our high school interns and organization staff regarding meeting facilitation. I would highly recommend working / collaborating with her.”
Solomon Belette, East Contra Costa Community Alliance (ECCCA)
“Dr. Sarah Romano is a thoughtful, strategic, and conscientious leader that is deeply concerned with and dedicated to environmental, climate, and sustainability issues. As an adjunct associate, she was extremely helpful to the East Contra Costa Community Alliance in developing our community engagement and outreach strategies. She continues to be a trusted advisor and advocate for ECCCA in areas related to policy, advocacy, and collaborative partnerships.”
Tina Neuhausel, Sustainable Contra Costa
“Sarah’s coaching, training, and facilitation expertise have been critical to our nonprofit’s success this year. She drew on her experience and knowledge in community organizing to help us plan, design, outreach, and follow up on a challenging new community engagement program. She brought sharp focus to the project, helping us plan and identify activities to support desired outcomes.
Sarah brilliantly led our facilitated discussion with community members to generate interest, energy, and feedback in our work to create community-based air quality solutions. We’re so grateful to have Sarah’s support to help us navigate successfully through new programmatic territory. She’s organized, responsive, collaborative, and most importantly, a pleasure to work with.”
