AWL Strategies is on a mission to make change fit, for everyone. The most innovative technologies and best laid plans can only work when people understand and stand behind them. We believe that successfully managing through change to achieve true innovation requires equal parts technology, people, guts and heart. We are bound by our values. Intent. Focus. Excellence. Empathy. Fairness. We believe that every business deserves great, on-brand communications that help level the playing field and change lives for the better. We strive to engage and meet our clients where they are, understand their needs, and accelerate their mission and vision for the future.We are also deeply committed to helping women get a leg up in business. As women leaders who have benefited from the mentorship, sponsorship and expertise of formidable women throughout our careers, we believe our success must be shared with women coming up. We provide pro bono mentorship to individuals and teams, and donate 5% of all profits to organizations helping women ascend to leadership positions, with a specific focus on veterans and military spouses, as well as the under-resourced.Find us at awlstrategies.com

Communications Strategy and engagement for MITRE's federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) for civilian agencies.

Communications Leader supporting the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs Office of Information & Technology Transformation and Office of Information Security. http://www.oit.va.gov/transformation/

Contracted to assist in the successful realization of large organization change projects at a leading Southeastern bank. Over nine years, the role has evolved to include:01/15 - present: Communications and Organization Change Lead partnering with Chief Data Officer and business and IT leaders to build and support the Enterprise Data Organization and strategy. Enterprise-wide change, communications, and stakeholder management from C-suite to end users. 04/12 – 12/15: Transformation and teammate engagement strategy for new CIO transition into the company, including a framework for transformation communications, innovation programs, social media, overhaul and streamlining of business as usual communications and reporting, and a holistic teammate engagement plan. 05/09 – 04/12: Communications Lead for enterprise-wide strategic initiative targeting stakeholders from the boardroom to the line, conceived and executed enterprise-wide communication plan and framework for driving quality, clarity and consistency. Created a reusable communications framework that is being leveraged across enterprise strategic programs and will drive communications planning and execution for an organization-wide cultural transformation.03/08 – 05/09: Communications Strategist for the Corporate Project Management Office aligned with executive leadership and IBM Global Relationship Manager to identify and drive the strategy, planning and execution of consistent, clear and persuasive Executive Communications across the institution.12/05 – 3/08: Communications and Engagement team lead planning and executing communications strategy and plan for technology division transformation. Coordinated communications activities of seven project workstreams. Designed, wrote and edited communications collateral, including newsletters, executive speeches, internal and external presentations and events, Web site copywriting and maintenance, and education materials.

Contracted to team with the internal IBM Executive Insights and Financial Services Marketing Groups and IBM subject matter experts, Sara has written more than 40 whitepapers. Her executive points of view, trade articles and advertorials target c-level executives across markets and industries, including Microfinance, Traditional Banking, Consumer Packaged Goods, Electronics, Entertainment, Mobile/Wireless, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Government and Retail.

Wrote marketing collateral and project documentation. Engineered processes, performed interviews with consultants and clients to yield feature articles, customer success stories, content for newsletters, websites, and recruitment materials and education materials. Designed, edited and published the e-business Strategy and Design Community of Practice Newsletter, and doubled community membership within four months of editorship.