Sarah snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Growing up on the Long Island peninsula, Sarah Fernandez remembers visiting the beach and local maritime museum, where she learned about the fascinating underwater world that has captivated her ever since. These early memories of the ocean peaked her interest in marine biology, though she later discovered her innate knack for numbers.
Sarah is currently a senior at Salve Regina University, working towards her bachelor’s in finance with a concentration in cybersecurity, and is concurrently pursuing her master’s in business administration. In fall 2018, she joined COA as an accounting intern during which time she managed donations and reconciled purchases. She gained invaluable skills using our customer relationship management system, accounts receivables, accounts payable, and was exposed to our balance sheets, cash summary, and financial income statements.
Though her day-to-day work involves excel documents and balance sheets, she has been a steadfast ocean-lover and avid sailor for the past ten years. Before coming to COA, Sarah worked as a sailing instructor at the Waterfront Center in Oyster Bay, New York, where she was able to pass on her love for the ocean and sailing to the next generation of students.
Sarah’s great work ethic and mastery of finance and accounting, as well as her passion for ocean conservation has resulted in a part-time position with COA in 2019. As our bookkeeper Sarah makes sure our nonprofit wheels keep turning, helping to run our financial accounting, donor management and annual appeals accounting. Upon graduating with her MBA in 2020, Sarah plans to take her CPA exam and hopes to enter the forensic accounting field in New England or New York.