Our Services

Clients Skills & Services Approach Guiding Principles

The Challenge

The world is young and changing fast. Building systems that support transformative impact for children and youth is a challenge faced by communities and organizations across every sector.

I work to meet these challenges for and with young people, their families and communities in the United States and globally.

How I Can Help

I offer independent and team-based expertise to diverse organizations including not-for-profits, private industry, philanthropy, and government partners.

Through my practice, I provide a range of technical and strategic services based on your organizational needs and priorities - from strategy shaping, program design and implementation, curricula development, training and facilitation, to grant writing, partnerships, resource mobilization, and more.

My services are informed by 20+ years of multidisciplinary experience as a grantee, grant maker, and advocate focused on collective impact for and with young people, and communities.

How I Work

  • Assets-Based: I recognize that opportunity, inclusive environments, and well being go hand in hand. My practice specializes in assets-based and cross-functional approaches that engage young people’s strengths while addressing their multi-facted needs. I am an experienced practitioner and trainer of Positive Youth Development (PYD) and Meaningful & Inclusive Youth Engagement (MIYE).

  • Listening & Trust-Based: I understand that lived experience is expertise, and believe that those affected by decisions should participate in shaping solutions. My work is focused on trust-based approaches that emphasize deep listening (versus “passive hearing”), collaborative decision-making, and problem solving.

  • Intergenerational: My goal is to ensure that young people are meaningfully included in the decisions that impact their lives, and that adults can engage with young people in ways that make impact go further. I actively seek opportunities to strengthen equity, intergenerational engagement and trust, and support youth-led systems change.

My technical areas of expertise include:

Clients

Plan International - Lead Consultant, Youth-Driven Approach (YDA) Cross-Organization Integration Guidance- June - Mid-August 2026 (Short Term Contract)

This consultancy supports the transition of Plan International’s youth strategy—often referred to as LEAD (Girls, Boys and Youth as Active Drivers of Change)—from a single programmatic pillar to an organizational-wide approach aimed at effectively operationalizing YDA principles across Plan’s diverse global teams and office operational realities. In this role, I am leading the development of new organization-wide guidance to support Plan International’s cross-cutting Youth-Driven Approach (YDA). Working in close consultation with Plan staff across country offices, thematic areas, and levels of operation, the light touch guide will offer a conflict-sensitive shared framework for adopting YDA that is accessible, practical, and adaptable enough to reflect the diversity of young people, cultural and programmatic contexts in which Plan works, while adhering to YDA core principles and minimum standards. 

World Bank - The Civil Society & Social Innovation Alliance (CIVIC) & The International Youth Foundation (IYF) - Lead Consultant, Jovens em Açao Community of Practice (CoP) Design & Implementation, CIVIC Brazil Youth Pilot - March - July 2026 (Short-Term Contract)

Led the design and delivery of a new Community of Practice (CoP) - the  Jovens em Açao: Network - and a three-part youth-accessible policy translation curricula for The World Bank Group’s CIVIC Youth Community of Practice (CoP) Brazil pilot project. Currently facilitating after-action internal reflections sessions with the World Bank and IYF teams to capture learning outcomes that will inform the World Bank’s overall CIVIC Youth project and adoption of the CoP model in other country contexts. CIVIC’s goal is to strengthen the quality and usability of youth participation in Brazil’s national planning process (PPA) through peer learning, youth-led solutions exchange, mentorship, and translation of lived experience into policy-relevant inputs.
 Supported by CIVIC and the International Youth Foundation (IYF), the CoP is designed for youth-serving and youth-led organizations (YSOs/YLOs), and connects young people directly with policy and decision-makers for exchange, knowledge building and mentorship. Learn more here.

Client Testimonial

“I had the pleasure of working closely with Sarah under the World Bank's CIVIC Youth - Brazil Engagement Program, where she led the design and development of the Program's Community of Practice (CoP). Sarah played a leading role in designing and facilitating an approach that was both highly effective and informed by meaningful youth engagement principles.  From the outset, Sarah brought a combination of strategic thinking, creativity, and youth engagement expertise that helped transform an initial concept into a structured, engaging, and impactful methodology.

Throughout the COP's design and implementation, Sarah demonstrated a strong ability to translate complex concepts into practical, youth-centered learning experiences. She developed a methodology that fostered meaningful dialogue, encouraged collaboration across diverse stakeholders, and created a structured process for youth participants to move from sharing experiences and challenges to developing actionable policy recommendations related to development finance. Her keen ability to work across stakeholder groups (youth, civil society, World Bank, government) strengthened the team's ability to deliver on various components of the Program, balancing various stakeholder perspectives and incentives with the COP's overall learning agenda. Drawing on her senior leadership experience in the field, Sarah consistently ensured that the methodology advanced the Program's broader institutional objectives while remaining responsive to the needs, perspectives, and dynamics of individual participants.

What impressed me most was Sarah's ability to balance strategic thinking with practical implementation, leveraging the World Bank as a strategic convener and bridge between Brazilian civil society and the public sector. Sarah approached the work with creativity, attention to detail, and a genuine commitment to meaningful participation, resulting in a methodology that strengthened both the quality of the discussions, the long-term sustainability of the COP, and partnership with youth and government.”

  • Carolina Coch-Plaza, CIVIC Youth Lead, The World Bank Group

One Young World - Interim Director of Development - US - September 2025 - Present

On call strategic advising and direct technical support to One Young World - US, advancing the organization’s partnerships and growth strategy, supporting US Board engagement, and administering local partnerships that support youth-led and community impact in the United States and globally. Additional advising support is provided for government and multilateral engagement and grant development.

YouthBuild Global - Consultant, Development Landscape Analysis-Opportunity Youth - Short-Term Sub-Contract, November - April, 2026

Conducted landscape analysis and opportunity mapping of global market and funding trends (philanthropic and bilateral ODA) for Opportunity Youth populations in seven countries and regions. Delivered final assessment and recommendations for YBI’s new coalition strategy.

The Read Project: Refugee Education & Development Organizational Strategy - Short Term Contract, July 2025

Provided short-term, discreet strategic advising for new staffing, US Board development and engagement.

Skills & Services

  • We help organizations translate high-level commitments to youth engagement into meaningful action by building the buy-in, knowledge, skills, and capacity of individuals and teams.

    We support effective implementation through advising and strengthening strategy, organizational systems, tools and processes, and identifying barriers and opportunities for meaningful and inclusive youth engagement in programs, policy, and as partners.

    Within projects and initiatives, we support strategies for youth-led research, youth-inclusive and youth-led consultation, youth advisory group design and implementation, co-creation, program and policy engagement, and leadership. 

  • We track and analyze the impact of domestic and global policies on child and youth populations, with a focus on inclusion and well being, education and economic opportunity, and conflict prevention and peace.

    Through strategic and technical advising, we support child and youth integration and inclusion in local, national, and global policy and initiatives. We specialize in strategies to achieve stronger youth engagement, participation and leadership in formal policy and decision-making processes. 

    Our practice applies demonstrated experience in policy leadership and advocacy, translating complex data and topics on young people for expert and non-expert audiences in government, the private sector, foundation partners, and multilateral organizations.

  • We help organizations clarify goals and objectives, identify gaps, and shape strategies for current and future opportunity.

    Big picture, we map and analyze trends, existing evidence, and new priority areas, and translate findings into actionable recommendations for teams and organizations. 

    For organizations and projects, we conduct portfolio reviews, develop theories of change, key performance indicators, research and learning agendas, and more. 

  • We specialize in strategic, multisectoral partner engagement, connecting the dots between issues, organizational strengths, and priorities to help mobilize new resources.

    Our services include partner landscape analysis that help organizations identify opportunities for new or strengthened collaboration, and we design new partnership strategies to support outreach and stewardship.

    Our partnership work extends to networks and membership coalitions. We facilitate for stronger coalition building and decision making by helping organizations and teams identify shared goals, priorities, roles, and strengths.

  • We specialize in research and impact assessment for cross-functional child and youth development programming, and offer experience in developing and implementing impact frameworks, key indicators, and research and learning agendas.

    Our support includes literature and landscape reviews, stakeholder consultation, analysis and writing that contributes to evidence and learning, strategy development, and a deeper understanding of key trends and emerging issues for child and youth development.

  • We help design and implement new programs and initiatives. Our approach integrates evidence and data, analysis, consultation, and co-creation with diverse stakeholders, including young people, alongside learning from other contexts.

    For strategies and projects, we help design implementation plans, and set realistic milestones, deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities.

    We specialize in holistic, cross-functional program design that integrates Positive Youth Development (PYD) principles, and promotes locally-led and youth-led decision-making and leadership. 

    Our technical areas of specialty include youth programming in education and economic opportunity (skills development, work readiness, entrepreneurship), sport for development, and leadership and peacebuilding.

  • We design curricula, training and workshops for adult and youth-learners, building knowledge and skills through applied learning and participatory techniques.

    We specialize in Positive Youth Development and in Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Engagement, and support teams to integrate these approaches in their work.

  • We support organizations to evaluate and strengthen their approaches, policies and procedures for child and youth inclusion, safeguarding, and protection. 

    Our practice helps to identify gaps and areas for improvement while prioritizing the holistic needs of young people. We emphasize respect and inclusion and safety and transparency. We assess both organizational and young peoples’ capacity (meeting them where they are), as well as factors like interest, motivation, and consent. 

    We support organizations and teams to create more accessible, inclusive and supportive environments for young people to be engaged, feel safe, and supported in their contributions, decision-making, and leadership. 

Our Approach

  • Our practice is guided by the belief that, “you are never too young to lead, and never too old to learn” but that too often, young people are left out of decision-making that impacts their lives, while adults miss critical opportunities to learn directly from young people, and in ways that make impact go further.

    We apply nearly two decades of experience to support targeted, multi-generational strategies with applied expertise in youth engagement and youth-led programming, multi-sectoral partnerships, resource management and mobilization, and advocacy in the US and overseas to help ensure children and youth are a priority, and are meaningfully engaged as partners in social impact.

  • We focus on how to make policy work better for young people, and how investments in young people — their leadership, services, and systems — bring policy to life.

    We apply 20+ years of experience working at the intersection of policy and practice, combining global interdisciplinary expertise in community-based development and senior global policy leadership to help teams inside non-profit, private, philanthropic, multilateral, and government organizations.

  • We think about systems, a lot: are they transformative for young people, their families, and communities? How can they be more resilient in times of uncertainty and change? Systems change is, after all, about people, power, and our ability to work together.

    We have deep experience building and leading diverse coalitions, learning networks, and community convening that connect stakeholders and ideas, supports the next generation of leadership, and drives research, policy, and programs focused on expanding inclusive innovation, opportunity and well being.

Guiding Principles

  • We believe that all young people have the right to shape the agendas and decisions that impact their lives now, and in the future.

    Our goal is to help translate commitments to youth inclusion into meaningful action, building the knowledge, mindset, and architecture for youth engagement and leadership within organizations, and across the program and policy cycle.

    We’re committed to knocking down barriers faced by young people, and working with adults to be better allies, mentors and champions for children and youth.

    We support inclusive youth consultation, co-creation, engagement and leadership. At every opportunity, we champion the prioritization of all young people as vital partners in US and global community development agendas, and as our world’s most important assets.

  • The Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a strengths-based approach that emphasizes youth as assets, not problems, and as leaders in their own right. PYD recognizes that the needs of young people are multi-faceted and cross-sectoral, and that interventions should reflect this reality, engaging young people, their families, communities, and governments to achieve sustainable outcomes.

    We draw from the PYD framework to design and measure the impact of holistic, cross-functional programs and policies that promote young people’s access, engagement, and enabling environments so that they may lead healthy, safe, and productive lives.

    We recognize that PYD is a philosophy and an approach that exists in other forms, cultures and contexts around the world, and that it is strongest when it is locally-led and owned.

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