Overview
Sarah Butchers is MMF’s Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the organization’s finances and operations across its programs in Mozambique, Indonesia, and beyond. Her work spans financial management, compliance, human resources, donor relations, budgeting, and strategic planning, ensuring MMF’s teams in the field have the resources and support they need.
Sarah works closely with MMF’s boards, senior leadership, funders, government partners, and field teams to keep the organization accountable, well-resourced, and sustainable. She is particularly passionate about the people she works alongside and about seeing MMF’s work make a lasting difference for both the marine environment and the coastal communities who depend on it.
Education
Bachelor of Business, Accounting
University of Western Sydney, Australia
Biography
Sarah grew up in Australia and studied at the University of Western Sydney, earning a Bachelor of Business in Accounting with sub-majors in finance law, commercial law, and public practice accounting. She began her career in Sydney at a boutique accounting firm, advising private clients on tax, compliance, and entity structuring. She then spent six years at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Manager in Finance and Operations, overseeing partner remuneration and partnership tax for PwC Australia, part of one of the world’s largest professional services networks.
Driven by a love of the natural world and a growing concern about the threat of climate change, Sarah began looking for a way to put her skills toward something that mattered. In 2018, she stepped away from PwC to volunteer with MMF in Mozambique for six months, a stay that soon stretched to nine. Upon returning to Sydney, she found her heart was still with MMF and Mozambique, so when the organization offered her the full-time role of Global Financial Officer in 2019, she didn’t hesitate. A year later she was appointed Chief Operating Officer, and has since guided MMF through challenges ranging from the global pandemic to cyclone preparedness and recovery.
Sarah now calls Tofo, Mozambique home permanently, where she is raising her two children on the coast. They are a big part of why she does this work: she wants them, and every child, to inherit a healthy ocean and a livable planet.
