About Sarah Fischer

Sarah Fischer is a strategist, grant writer, facilitator, and systems thinker with more than a decade of experience building programs, organizations, and coalitions statewide. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, where adult education design grounded in critical pedagogy shaped her praxis. As the Founder and Principal Consultant of Chrysalis, she embeds with nonprofits, small businesses, and community organizations via goal oriented residency. She specializes in public health, education (K through PhD), small business sustainability, belonging and equity work, arts, outdoor conservation and recreation, and bridging the rural-urban divide. In addition to organizational consulting, Sarah offers values aligned small business coaching.

Before launching Chrysalis, Sarah was a Community Grant Specialist with Ducote Consulting, where she served on a team of three that secured $38 million for rural municipalities and nonprofits between 2022 and 2026. She managed relationships with dozens of major funders, including Business Oregon, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization, Oregon Community Foundation, and congressionally directed spending. She served as the team's Equity and Community lead, with a focus on food access, agriculture, homelessness, libraries, and recreation access, and created adult education curriculum for community members. A favorite project from the role was securing a $1 million grant for a new splash pad in Irrigon, Oregon.

Sarah's career reflects a commitment to liberty and justice for all. With a systems mind that thrives in diverse settings, she has had the honor of advising first generation and former foster youth through TRIO Student Support Services at Eastern Oregon University, coordinating resident services for affordable housing in Eugene, Oregon, and holding multiple roles in the sustainable agriculture and food justice space, including co-running all operations on a full scale organic farm. Her diverse trajectory has lead to lived experience that informs her practice.

Community is the root of her work, and recent roles include serving as a grant reviewer for the Union County Cultural Coalition (2026) and Oregon Humanities (2023), as well as board service with the Grande Ronde Symphony, the La Grande Farmers' Market, and the Eastern Oregon University Diversity Committee. Sarah focuses on breaking down institutional jargon and creating paths to access so resources flow directly to the places they belong. In addition to Chrysalis, Sarah enjoys growing/ arranging flowers, learning about quantum physics and herbalism, and exploring the world with her daughter.