Nonprofit

Sarah Jennings, CPA, CFE, CAE, Principal, Director, Consulting

Sarah is a principal at Maner Costerisan and leads the firm’s Consulting services division. With over 20 years of experience, Sarah is widely regarded as a visionary leader within the firm, always offering new ideas to help Maner better support its clients. In addition to her leadership role providing expert consulting services to Maner’s clients, she spearheads the firm’s nonprofit team, where she’s able to align her work with her passion for advocacy and philanthropy. She also holds the distinction of being its first female board member.

Sarah’s responsibilities encompass overseeing engagements that offer guidance and advisory services to client leadership and teams, with a focus on strategy and change management, financial analysis, projections, and workflow. Notably, her expertise lies in leveraging strategic planning to propel missions forward, instilling a framework for growth, and ensuring accountability for achieving the desired outcomes. In addition, Sarah conducts examinations for diverse organizations to identify and document the magnitude of loss attributable to fraud or abuse.

Passionate about making the community a better place, Sarah has led many of Maner Costerisan’s community engagement efforts, including the development of Maner Cares and its annual Day of Impact. Her efforts demonstrate Maner Costerisan’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, a focus that is both exciting and meaningful. In addition, Sarah has focused on diversity in leadership by helping form Maner’s Women at Work program, founding the Lansing ATHENA Women’s Interest Network, and serving on the ATHENA WIN, Michigan ATHENA and ATHENA International board of directors.

Beyond her client responsibilities at Maner Costerisan, Sarah regularly shares her expertise with colleagues and peers by speaking on industry-related topics, including fraud (risk areas and prevention), financial oversight, board governance and ethics. She founded the local Association of Certified Fraud Examiners to provide resources locally to professionals focused on the prevention and detection of fraud.

Sarah also has received a number of awards, including the MICPA, AICPA Woman to Watch, Experienced Leader – 2017, Greater Lansing Community Champion – 2016, ATHENA Leadership Award – 2015 and 10 Over the Next 10, Lansing – 2010.

As an active member of the community, Sarah volunteers her time with various organizations, including McLaren Greater Lansing Foundation (Chair), McLaren Greater Lansing (Trustee), University of Olivet (Trustee), Michigan Accountancy Foundation (Trustee) and Love is Above All (Chair).

Sarah resides with her husband, Russ, and their son, Kannon. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, gardening, playing golf (generally being active and outside), traveling and spending time with family.

I see curiosity as a lifelong companion, constantly driving me to learn and find solutions. With a focus on strategic thinking, I approach challenges with a big-picture mindset, always seeking ways to help individuals and organizations grow along the way.