President Elect Designee of the Association of Government Accountants, AGA / Partner at Summit
Sarah Cunningham is a Partner at Summit, with over 25 years of experience in financial management, enterprise risk management (ERM), and performance improvement. She specializes in integrating risk, finance, and performance to strengthen decision-making and deliver measurable mission outcomes across complex government programs.
Sarah has led major financial management, risk, and evaluation initiatives across federal agencies, including Treasury, HUD, Commerce, SBA, and DOE. Her work focuses on designing and implementing effective programs, ERM frameworks, strengthening internal controls, applying data analytics, and improving program performance in high-stakes environments such as federal credit programs, grants management, and emergency response.
Prior to Summit, Sarah served in senior leadership roles at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where she oversaw government-wide federal credit policy for a $5 trillion portfolio, and at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as Assistant Chief Financial Officer and Acting Deputy CFO. As CFO for Mecklenburg County, she oversaw a $2.2 billion capital budget, financial operations, and led several initiatives including modernizing procurement, strengthening grants management, and revamping the ERM program.
Sarah is a recognized leader in advancing risk-informed governance and evidence-based management across the public sector, and in July 2026 became President-Elect of AGA—a premier government financial management organization serving all levels of government in the United States.
Sarah has a BA in History from Kalamazoo College, an MPP from the Ford School of Public Policy, and certifications in government financial management, risk management, and project management.