Sarah Pearsall, PhD

Current Role

Sarah Pearsall is a Senior Research Associate on our Insights & Impact team, where she designs and leads research and client evaluation projects that strengthen leadership practice and support organizational effectiveness. Her current work spans neurodiversity, wellbeing, and inclusive workplace practices. She develops research-based tools that support organizational discovery and individual insight, including pre-program assessments, as well as post-program evaluations that measure leadership impact and effectiveness. Sarah also builds systems to streamline reporting and improve access to meaningful insights, helping translate data into clear stories.

Her work plays a critical role in supporting clients, ensuring that the data and tools they rely on are accurate, accessible, and ready to inform meaningful conversations and decisions. She advances data visualization practices to make insights clearer and more actionable for those delivering and experiencing leadership development.

Experience

Sarah brings an interdisciplinary background in psychology, educational research, special education, and cognitive neuroscience to her work. She has led a range of research and evaluation projects focused on leadership effectiveness, behavior change, and inclusive practices.

Her expertise includes survey development, program evaluation, and creating processes that enhance organizational efficiency and learning. She leverages data science, analytics, and visualization to enhance how insights are generated and shared, developing custom code-based solutions that improve efficiency and are used across the organization. She has also shared her work through academic and practitioner publications and national conference presentations.

She is passionate about designing accessible, user-centered tools and reporting systems that empower clients and organizations to use data meaningfully. Her work transforms not only how people understand information, but also how they apply it to support strategic decisions and drive change, both in research and in real-world workplace settings.

Educational Background

Sarah has a PhD in Special Education, with a minor in Educational Research Methodology. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has an MA in Psychology from Wake Forest University and a BS in Psychology from the University of North Florida.

Professional Affiliations and Certifications

Sarah is a member of the Society of the International Leadership Association (ILA), Southeastern Social Psychologists (SSSP), Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), American Psychological Association (APA), American Statistical Association (ASA), and Phi Kappa Phi honor society.

Honors, Awards, Grants

Sarah has received several awards for her academic work, including the following:

• Reilly Scholarship, 2017–2018.
• Freeman Memorial Fund, 2017–2018.
• Emmie Dark Lane Scholarship, 2014–2015 & 2016–2017.
• Patricia R. Cross Scholarship, 2015–2016.
• Presidential Scholarship, 2005–2009.
• Florida Bright Futures Academic Scholars, 2005–2009.