Sandra's 30 year background in auditing and in consulting provide her with the broad, extensive experience and skills necessary to lead and assist with complex, people-focused change projects that include: 1) strategic and operations planning, 2) organization structure alternatives, 3) operations and management processes and 4) financial and organizational information needs of internal and external stakeholders.

Sandra has experience working with a variety of industries including high-tech companies, health care, government, construction, education institutions, service-centered organizations, manufacturing and distribution organizations, and financial institutions. For example, she has led the development and facilitated the implementation of over 80 comprehensive organizational strategic plans. She has coordinated the planning and supervised the implementation of a similar number of major organizational restructurings in private, governmental and not-for-profit entities.

Prior to founding The Suran Group in 1990, Sandra was founder and an audit and consulting partner of one of Portland's largest accounting and consulting firms, Suran & Company, CPAs, which merged with KPMG Peat Marwick in 1985. She subsequently became an audit and consulting partner with KPMG, serving on the national Middle Market steering committee. Her respected understanding of business led the State of Oregon to hire Sandra to develop a strategic plan for small business in Oregon and to lead the implementation of small business programs for the State.

Sandra is a frequent writer, instructor and speaker at national and regional conferences on such topics as strategic and operations planning, alliances, Board relationships, the role of accountants and accounting regulation post-Enron, future trends, managing change, entrepreneurial economics and consulting services.

Sandra has founded or significantly restructured and chaired numerous local and national professional and civic organizations, such as the Professional Services Coordinating Council of Oregon, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, Catholic Charities of Oregon, Tualatin Valley Economic Development Corporation (now the Westside Alliance) and the Advisory Council on Small Business and Agriculture for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She is a former trustee of the University of Portland, former Chair of St. Vincent Hospital and Medical Center Advisory Board, former Board member of the American Institute of CPAs, and has been the recipient of many awards for excellence and leadership in business.

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