Workforce Development Program Principal
Sarah Ferguson
Getting schools, colleges, employers and community groups moving in the same direction.
Sarah has spent more than twenty years in workforce development, K-12 and higher education, and community partnerships. She runs Chesterfield Consulting, where her work covers strategic planning, program and partnership development, grant writing and project management. At Eleven Tenths she designs and facilitates workshops, builds partnerships, and helps each program launch smoothly at the colleges that host it.
Where she has done the work
- Pajaro Valley Unified School District, since 2021: manages development of an online platform connecting high school students with career technical education and work-based learning
- Santa Cruz County Office of Education: Senior Community Organizer for Census 2020 outreach and FosterEd liaison, and earlier a program coordinator for countywide youth programs across four counties
- Cabrillo College: coordinated the 2020 Summer CyberCamp for students from middle school through college age
- Work4Youth, 2011 to 2014: strategic planning, workshops, facilitation and fund development for a cross-sector youth workforce initiative
- Co-founded and ran New Bohemia Brewing Co. in Santa Cruz for nine years
Education
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Master’s Degree, Public Policy
California State University, Monterey Bay, Panetta Institute for Public Policy
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B.A., Sociology
University of California, Santa Cruz
Community leadership
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Co-Founder
Santa Cruz Women Leaders Network
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Board Member
Pleasure Point Business Association and Think Local First
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Leadership Santa Cruz
2006 to 2007
Workshops and partnerships
Putting students in front of the people already doing the work
From 2021 to 2025 Sarah coordinated BayICT’s Tech Talks, a recurring career-exploration series that connected students with alumni working in technology careers. She also produced the partnership’s newsletter, supported its events, and worked extensively on AIDA, the Bay Area’s AI and data analytics pathways initiative.
At Eleven Tenths she designs and runs workshops for colleges, employers and workforce partners, and builds the partnerships each new program needs at its host college.
