Sarah Tomita

About

COO/CFO and startup co-founder (Gratia, Inc.) who has built operational infrastructure end-to-end across finance, contracts, resourcing, and talent management. Has scaled multiple early-stage businesses (<$20M revenue) and supported outcomes including a sale to a private equity-backed strategic buyer, with a pragmatic approach centered on clear processes, stakeholder alignment, and leveraging tools like QuickBooks, Bill.com, HubSpot, and Salesforce.

Experience

Education

Key Strengths

• Built and optimized end-to-end startup operations (finance, contracts, resourcing, talent)
• COO/CFO experience in early-stage companies (<$20M revenue)
• Scaled companies through to sale to a private equity-backed strategic buyer
• Diagnoses inefficiencies via stakeholder discovery + financial review
• Pragmatic systems approach (leverages existing tools; emphasizes clear, consistently followed processes)
• Evaluates automation/AI opportunities and makes build-vs-buy decisions
• Effective mentor/advisor to non-ops founders using collaborative, example-driven recommendations
• Balances strategic guidance with willingness to execute hands-on and serve in interim roles

Reference Highlights

• excellent understanding of organizational efficiency and accountability
• streamlined management and business development processes
• built comprehensive client development, budgeting, and onboarding procedures
• involved the right people and coordinated across the business
• implemented monthly forecasting to drive revenue growth
• improved income and margins contributing to higher acquisition valuation
• effective advisor to owner during sale process
• communicates complex business/finance concepts clearly to non-experts
• well-suited for COO/operations advisory in fast-growing startups