Serra Sippel

Serra Sippel (she/her) is President and Founder of Serra Sippel Strategies LLC. She is also a Visiting Practitioner at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.

Serra advises non-profits, movement leaders, funders, and corporations on advocacy, organizational development and strengthening, and leadership transition. Serra is a strategic thinker who combines her passion for social justice with 15 years of executive experience leading diverse high-impact teams to advance gender equality, sexual and reproductive rights, and social justice in the U.S. and globally. She has proven success envisioning, leading and managing complex organizational change, building diverse coalitions and centering equity and justice in organizational programs and operations.

Serra was president of CHANGE (Center for Health and Gender Equity) for 15 years. As president, Serra transformed the small non-profit into a leading policy advocacy organization, raising more than $24 million over the course of her tenure. Her bold and innovative policy advocacy, communications campaigns and coalition-building achieved high impact results including a U.S. commitment of $385 million to prevent HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa and the adoption of support for sexual and reproductive health and rights in the U.S. and globally as official U.S. policy. Serra managed four strategic planning processes, including a diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, while also undertaking a full inventory and reconstitution of organizational policies, procedures and governance.

In 2021, Serra co-founded Fòs Feminista, an international alliance for sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice (SRHRJ), through the merger of CHANGE with two other SRHRJ non-profits. At Fòs Feminista, Serra co-led an international team to create the Global Advocacy for Change Unit and global advocacy strategy that centers the priorities of advocates in the Global South.

As a thought leader, Serra’s writings have been published in the media and peer-reviewed journals and she is sought after by the media, governments, academia and philanthropy for her analysis and expertise on policy, advocacy, gender equity, and human rights. Serra is a Board member and treasurer for the VIVA School of Dance, a local, Washington, D.C.-based pre-professional non-profit school that works to eliminate barriers of access to high-level dance training and create opportunities for Black and other students of color to develop as skilled and confident dance artists and individuals.  Serra holds a master’s degree in religion with a focus on peace and justice.