Sara McGarraugh

Sara McGarraugh brings a reflective, practitioner-oriented perspective to the succession planning discussion grounded in her nearly 15 years as a Consultant at The Improve Group, an evaluation and strategic planning consulting firm. In 2022, The Improve Group transitioned to a worker-owned cooperative after several years of preparation.

A member of the management team, Sara participated on the internal transition team, contributing to the development of policies and practices that supported the organization through ownership change. While she considers herself a learner within the cooperative movement, this experience has shaped how she thinks about planned transitions, shared responsibility, and organizational continuity.

In her day-to-day work, Sara partners with nonprofits, funders, and government agencies to help them examine how their programs function, how decisions are made, and how strategy, data, and learning can support long-term mission and equity goals. Through evaluation, consulting, and facilitation, she supports organizations to surface difficult questions, navigate power dynamics, and bring multiple perspectives into planning conversations—skills that naturally connect to how organizations assess readiness, interest and values when considering succession planning as an opportunity rather than a disruption.