Individuals and organizations need to intentionally review their work (past/present) and create strategic plans that include targeted approaches to achieve their goals. My strategic planning services include but are not limited to- feedback collection (internal/external), stakeholder engagement, retreat facilitation, planning document creation, and more. Based on your organization’s intentions and budget, I will create a planning process that both meets your current needs and encourages you to push your organization toward the future.

With my success cultivating the young preservationists movement, I also offer a focused strategic planning process to create a plan to foster the next generation of cultural resource advocates for the sustainability of your organization.

Organizational change does not stop when a plan is created. Support services provide external assistance to successfully meet benchmarks. I’ll provide regularly scheduled check-ins, be a sounding board, and give project assistance (resources, ideas, etc) to help your organization achieve its goals.

Academia, nonprofits, private companies, and governmental entities all play a role in cultural resource workforce development. Invest in emerging professionals through paid internships, scholarships, long term programs and unpaid board service, mentorship, volunteer opportunities. Strategically invest in the pipeline by creating meaningful opportunities at all stages of one’s career path. I can help you develop support systems, recruit applicants, and more. Let’s make sure your scholarships, internships, fellowships, and volunteer programs are equitable, inclusive, and empowering.

“As an organization transitioning from many years of being entirely volunteer-led to having a full-time staff person, we hired Sarah to help us develop a strategic action plan to prioritize our goals and create tangible steps to meet them. Sarah continued to work with me as a new ED for many months afterwards and re-visited with the Board to assess our progress. Because of her help, we’ve achieved an incredible amount, and I highly recommend her services for thoughtful, practical, outside-the-box guidance.” Jeremy Ebersole, Executive Director for the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance

“Sarah Marsom was a great help to us at the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation to identify potential applicants for our Preservation Programs Director position in spring/summer 2021. She has a thorough knowledge of online preservation job forums, an extensive network of contacts across the country, and a clear passion for connecting qualified preservationists to the organizations ready to make a difference. If you’re looking for assistance in finding your next preservation hire, we recommend reaching out to Sarah.”

Bring continuing education to you and your staff. By working with you to assess educational growth areas for your organization, continuing educational opportunities will be developed and can range from monthly homework with facilitated conversations to private workshops and/or conferences with topical experts.

Let’s connect you to your community utilizing passive and/or active engagement strategies - interpretive signage, (self) guided tours, unique workshops, social media, craftivism, and more! There are countless ways to reach your audience to achieve your educational goals. I’ll work with you to refresh and/or reimagine the ways you connect based on audience/staff feedback and resource/partnership review to develop, implement, and improve your outward facing engagement.

“Sarah brought fresh energy to our annual gathering of preservation leaders and made everything run so smoothly. The speakers she organized were thought-provoking and she kept us on schedule while building in time for plenty of online chat.” - Jean Follett, Historic Preservation Consultant, National Trust for Historic Preservation Advisor

“I was riveted during the workshop with your knowledge of research techniques and the blending of history and crafts. Thank you so much, I learned a lot.”

“…dynamic and lots of practical advice and ideas!”

“I absolutely loved it! It was welcoming, engaging, and supportive.”

“ Someone just told me today how much they enjoyed your presentation in Dodge City last fall. They are still inspired by your ideas. Thank you for all the great work you do.”