Sarah R. Kelley is the Principal of Common Threads Consulting, working with philanthropic funders and impact investors to provide strategy development, research, and facilitation. She brings particular expertise in sustainable and regenerative agriculture and sustainability in the fiber and textile system.

Sarah’s current work includes serving as Managing Director of the Integrated Capital Fibers Fund. The Fibers Fund is a catalytic fund designed to facilitate the investment of financial capital into a regenerative U.S. natural fibers and textile industry, with a focus on environmental equity. The fund was selected for the 2023 Transformative 25, a list of funds “transforming finance for people and planet,” and recently featured on Impact Alpha’s “The Liist” as an innovative debt fund.

Sarah has served as Consultant to Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) for its Initiative on Sustainable Fibers and Textiles since 2019. She also works with the global NGO Textile Exchange as Lead Researcher and Author of the Textile Exchange Regenerative Agriculture Landscape Analysis and the related Regenerative Agriculture Outcome Framework for the textile and apparel industry.

Other recent work includes a market opportunity assessment on wood-based fibers for Vermont and the Northern Forest Region. Sarah also continues to provide strategy development for family foundations focused on environmental health and toxics. Past projects include interview-driven analysis for the Guidelight Strategies/Patagonia regenerative agriculture landscape assessment, with a focus on racial equity in regenerative ag, and strategic planning and impact assessment for foundation and nonprofit clients.

Previously, Sarah served for 10 years as Senior Program Officer at Island Foundation, where she directed the Environment portfolio. In that role she developed and implemented a program on equity, inclusion, and environmental justice, including an innovative cohort-based model for grantee equity training. Before joining the Island Foundation, Sarah was the Executive Director of a nonprofit focused on supporting local food and agriculture. She also served two terms as Board member and Treasurer of New England Grassroots Environment Fund, where she supported the Grassroots Fund’s innovative participatory grantmaking model.

Sarah holds an M.S. in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a B.A. in History from Yale. She was selected as a 2018-19 Just Economy Institute Fellow (formerly RSF Integrated Capital Fellowship), focusing on integrating investment and grantmaking strategies to drive change.