She began her career on the advancement team at her alma mater, Washington State University, and went on to leadership positions at Providence Health in Seattle and the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She served as the Chief Advancement Officer at Marymount College (now Marymount California University) in Palos Verdes, California, establishing new programs and leading the College to its highest fundraising totals ever.

Sally also approaches her work with a wealth of entrepreneurial experience. In 2001, she started a fundraising consulting firm, DeChenne Company/Philanthropy Consulting, serving clients such as the University of Southern California; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Seattle University; and others for six years. Simultaneously, she founded three real estate development companies with a mission of acquiring and improving housing in educational communities. She also built and led a highly successful sales team in a $4 billion global company, where she recruited more than 150 people, and learned some of the world’s best practices in leadership and talent development.

Sally earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from the Honors College at Washington State University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.