Sarah Kokernot is the principal grant writer at Silk Button Consulting and a published fiction writer and essayist. She uses her storytelling skills to craft narratives that champion nonprofits so they can be matched with foundations and donors who share their values. Through listening and reflection, she writes narratives that uplift communities, focusing on their strengths and ingenuity.

Before becoming a grant writer, Sarah worked as a nonprofit professional in Chicago for ten years at organizations like StoryStudio and 826CHI. She believes that the grant-writing process not only secures nonprofits with funding, it enables them to better understand their programs and systems.

In addition to nonprofit management, Sarah has a background in bilingual (English/Spanish) K-12 education and has worked as a visiting faculty member at Northwestern University, where she taught in creative writing. She often teaches fiction and hybrid writing classes at StoryStudio (where she also writes grants).

Sarah lives outside of Chicago with her family. You can find her on the summer weekends running through the prairie near Lake Michigan, where she often stops abruptly to take photos of her favorite native plants and butterflies—especially the monarch.