About Sarah
I am originally from Chicago and moved to the Bay Area with my husband in 1999. We spent our first few years in San Francisco, Mill Valley and Burlingame, then moved to Portola Valley in 2006.
I vividly remember our first time driving down Alpine Road. We were looking for our “forever home” -- a place to raise our 3 young children, and were immediately hooked by the Town’s amazing natural beauty and it’s terrific schools. The time has flown since then as we just sent my oldest off to his freshman year of college, and his siblings are now in 11th grade at Woodside High School, and 8th grade at Menlo School.
I’ve worked in a variety of leadership roles for both private and public organizations. After business school I started my career in consulting, but in the late 90s shifted gears to web-based product management which led to roles managing a couple of the online businesses at Williams-Sonoma just as they were converting their brands from catalog to online retail.
My career pivoted a bit a few years after my second child was born with special needs, and it was around that time that I got involved in nonprofit work and volunteer leadership roles within the Portola Valley School District.
Within the Portola Valley School District, I served as Foundation Trustee, Gala Co-Chair, Endowment Co-Chair, Parent-Teacher Organization President and Vice-President, and on the Measure Z Leadership Committee.
I served 10 years as Trustee, including three as Chair, of a national research foundation focused on developing treatments to improve cognition for people with Down syndrome. During my tenure we grew from a small organization run from a garage at times, to one that has directed over $85 million in research, has an international board, and is the largest online Down syndrome community in the United States.
As my kids grew older, I had more time to dedicate to work. My career pivoted again in 2016, and for the last few years has been focused in state politics. I served as Chief of Operations for a non-profit focused on recruiting women for legislative office in California, and as Campaign Manager for Ann Ravel, candidate for CA State Senate, just south of us in Senate District 15. Through this work I’ve learned an incredible amount about the complicated issues we face in our state, and have further developed my appreciation for civic duty.
Please see my LinkedIn profile for more detail on my volunteer and professional experience.
I’ve had the benefit of volunteering with many smart, dedicated people in Portola Valley over the years, many who have endorsed my campaign. My endorsements also include all 5 Councilmembers, all 5 Portola Valley School District board members, and county and state elected officials. Please see my complete endorsement list here.
I hold a BA from Miami University of Ohio and MBA from George Washington University. My husband, Dan Wernikoff, is CEO of Legal Zoom.
More details can be found in the recent Almanac article about my candidacy.
