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Sarah W. Phelps

Principal

With more than 18 years of client advisory services experience, Sarah has in-depth expertise across strategic, operational, analytical, and partnership formation engagements.  As a Principal of First Annapolis, she leads the Firm’s Loyalty Support practice area.  Her areas of expertise include program strategy in addition to supporting technology and financial analysis. Her clients include financial institutions, travel organizations and retailers.She has managed project teams across a wide and diverse range of initiatives. For financial institutions, she has assisted in the formulation of the overall strategic vision for enterprise-wide rewards, providing support in all phases of program development – from initial assessment through implementation.  She has worked with retailers and travel organizations preparing business case analysis on both new programs and reinvigoration of legacy programs.  Her engagements also include working with service providers seeking to assess alternative market opportunities and developing fresh strategies for maximization of capital return. Sarah has been an expert speaker at numerous conferences including Loyalty Expo and Cards & Payment Loyalty and has been published in the American Banker, Cards and Payments, Loyalty Management, the First Annapolis Navigator and Transaction World.Sarah received her M.B.A. in finance from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Before joining First Annapolis, Sarah worked in the corporate practice area of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson, PLLC.