Krueger Takes Helm of AORE Marketing & Communications
Beginning Jan. 1, AORE is proud to announce that Sara Krueger will take over the association’s marketing and communications efforts. Key responsibilities will include the AORE Newsroom, a new feature to launch in 2019 on the AORE website, as well as the Weekly Digest, regular social media engagement, and marketing/communications relative to membership and AORE’s signature programs, including the annual conference.
Sara is a storyteller and activist with a knack for inspiring people of all backgrounds to join forces and create positive change in the world. In just 15 years, her bold leadership, strategic communications, and penchant for relationship-building have generated nearly $30M for innovative nonprofit programming in the mental health, arts and culture, tourism, and environmental sectors. Sara’s past organizations include: The Nature Conservancy, the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Trilogy Behavioral Healthcare, and the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.
Now as a consultant, Sara continues to help clients refine program metrics, streamline their operations, improve internal and external communications, and grow new business. She is passionate about incorporating health and wellness into the office environment as well, recognizing the powerful impact it can have on increasing employee productivity and retention. To this end, Sara completed her 200-hour yoga teaching certification and also holds an additional certification in trauma-informed yoga. She enjoys partnering with companies and individuals on adopting a wellness-focused workplace. In 2019, Sara will become an active member of Association Forum. She is also currently a member of the Yoga Alliance and the Nonprofit Storytelling Alumni Network. Her past affiliations include the Association of Donor Relations Professionals, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Chicago Literary Alliance.
Sara is deeply committed to social justice work in her community and volunteers with several organizations that expand access to affordable care for underserved populations. She has completed more than 100 hours of crisis intervention and advocacy training and has provided nearly 250 hours of direct support to at-risk and homeless youth as well as survivors of sexual assault and adults with severe mental illness. In 2019, Sara plans to begin holding a local monthly “healing circle” for trauma survivors that incorporates a combination of discussion, breathing exercises, and a trauma-informed yoga practice.
Sara holds a B.A. in film production from Columbia College Chicago. She is the recipient of artist residencies at the Ragdale Foundation in Illinois (fiction-writing) and the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida (screenwriting) and she has studied under award-winning independent film producer, Christine Vachon. Sara’s short films have shown in both U.S and international festivals and her short stories and poetry have appeared in numerous literary journals including Devilfish Review, Menacing Hedge, and Driftwood Press. Her first chapbook of collected works, Somewhere We Remain in the Aftermath, was published in 2016 by Finishing Line Press. Sara has guest-lectured at DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media and she regularly performs around Chicago as a part of the live lit circuit.
Sara spent her early years in Michigan farm country sneaking tractor rides and cozying up with books by a potbelly stove. She owes much of her artistic sensibilities to her late uncle, who introduced her impressionable six-year-old mind to David Lynch, Dr. Demento, German Expressionism, and 70’s science fiction. When Sara isn’t writing, collaborating with clients, or volunteering, she enjoys walking the shores of Lake Michigan, engaging in her personal yoga and meditation practice, experimenting in the kitchen, traveling to new places, hunting for antiques, and spending time in nature. She lives in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood with her husband Garrett and her two shelter rescues: a 17-year-old cat named Lando and a dachshund/beagle named Luna.