Staff Reports
The Florida office of McGuireWoods Consulting has hired Sara Clements, who starts Sept. 10. She’ll be on the Florida Government Affairs and National Education teams as a vice president, out of the firm’s Tallahassee office.
Clements joins the firm after six years of leading government affairs in-house for education nonprofits in Florida.
“Sara’s depth of experience advocating on behalf of students, teachers and Florida’s public education system and extensive knowledge of education policy issues in our state brings welcomed breadth to our team,” said Sean Stafford, senior vice president and director of McGuireWoods Consulting Florida Government Affairs team.
“Strong public education programs are critical to the success of our communities, and we are excited to partner with legislative and regulatory decision-makers on issues directly affecting our youth,” he added.
She most recently led external and legislative affairs for Step Up For Students, the largest scholarship funding organization in the nation, which administers four educational choice scholarship programs to more than 110,000 students statewide.
Before that, she was the Florida Legislative Affairs Director for the Foundation for Excellence in Education/Excellence in Action, founded by Gov. Jeb Bush.
In that role she lobbied for policies relating to standards and assessments, school accountability, teacher quality, educational choice, early literacy, competency-based learning, and more.
Clements has taught English/Language Arts and reading for four years in a Title I public school in Orlando and a K-12 charter school in Tallahassee.
In 2014, Clements was named a “30 Under 30 Rising Stars in Florida Politics” by Florida Politics. In 2011, Sara was nominated for Orange County Public Schools Teacher of the Year.
“We are excited to have Sara join our firm’s national education practice as well,” said Laura Fornash, senior vice president. “The relationships that Sara has established through her teaching career and as government affairs professional speak to her credibility and influence on issues that shape our country’s public education systems.”
Clements is a graduate of Florida State University, with a graduate degree in Education Policy and Evaluation, and got her undergraduate degree in English Education from the University of North Florida.
She volunteers with the 2nd Judicial Circuit’s Guardian ad Litem Program and is a member of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) State Leadership Network and James Madison Institute Board of Advisors, Tallahassee region.
Clements will continue to live in Tallahassee with her husband Joe and their rescue dog Jasper.
“I’m thrilled to join such a respected firm, both nationally and in the state, and I’m excited to be working alongside Rhett (O’Doski), Sean, and Ryder (Rudd) to continue broadening my experience in the legislative and executive branches with some of the best in the business,” she said.
