Sara Gates has built her career around service, responsibility and caring for others. She earned an Associate Degree of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology and spent 10 years working as a veterinary technician before transitioning to the accounting field.

Sara was a certified public accountant for five years, and during that time, she passed the exam to become a registered tax preparer. She then served for 13 years as a public school business manager, overseeing the school’s financial and administrative operations and gaining extensive experience in budgeting, organization and financial management.

Throughout those years, Sara says her greatest accomplishment was raising her two daughters. Now that they are grown and beginning lives of their own, she has entered a new chapter as well. She recently moved to a ranch on the Cheyenne River reservation with her boyfriend, embracing a quieter, more rural lifestyle and the new opportunities that come with it.

As CRYP’s finance director, Sara brings nearly two decades of accounting and financial management experience to the organization. She looks forward to putting that experience to work in support of CRYP’s mission, its staff and the Cheyenne River community.