About Us

InStride Advisors is your partner in growth and change. We think the work you do is important. And hard. We’ve been in your shoes and we want to help you and your organization leverage all of the resources at your disposal. We are in the race alongside you, ensuring that the road ahead is clear and that you have the resources you need to be an effective leader.

InStride Advisors is the brainchild of Sarah Mayeda. With successful experience as an educator, funder, and non-profit executive at both the local and national levels, Sarah is able to provide key support to organizations looking to address challenges, grow strategically, engage their teams, and manage change. InStride Advisors partners with organizations to identify the right opportunities for growth and develop the strategy to get there.

Sarah believes that non-profits thrive when outstanding strategy is matched with strong organizational culture, and efficient and seamless operations. She employs a partnership strategy with organizational leaders to identify the right opportunities for growth and develop the strategy to get there, with specific focus on preparing organizations to navigate change structurally, operationally, and culturally within an organization.

Since launching InStride Advisors in 2015, Sarah has worked with more than 40 clients on a range of projects including change management, founder/leader transition, strategic planning and case statement development, executive search and executive coaching, talent assessments and human capital strategy, operational assessments and business planning, team facilitation and board engagement strategy.

Prior to launching InStride Advisors, Sarah was a member of the national executive team at Spark Program. As the founding Executive Director of the Chicago office, Sarah led the strategic and execution of Spark’s launch strategy, including the development of district and corporate partnerships as well as Spark’s engagement with the Today Show, resulting in the feature spot with Jenna Bush Hager. Sarah became Chief Operating Officer on Spark’s national team in 2013, where she managed complex, multi-regional priorities related to talent development, fundraising, financial sustainability, communications, and operations, working with the board and executive leaders to make strategic decisions. Projects included selecting a PEO partner and subsequent benefits selection, leading a downsizing of national staff to address a funding shortfall, and running internal point on the CEO transition, in addition to helping to develop and then operationalizing the then current strategic plan.

Prior to Spark, Sarah managed teacher quality investments at The Chicago Public Education Fund. She coached new teachers at National Teachers Academy. She taught middle school in Chicago Public Schools. And she’s done front line development and donor engagement work at Chicago Cares and the University of Chicago.

She understands how non-profits work. What makes them tick. And the opportunities and challenges they face. She can help you do big things.

When an engagement calls for it, InStride Advisors will create a project team with trusted colleagues who provide expertise and experience across a wide spectrum of needs, including fundraising, program evaluation, marketing and communications, and meeting facilitation. In this way, InStride has the benefit of a multi-faceted consultancy while retaining the intimacy – and price point – of an independent consultant. Let us know how we can help you meet your goals!