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About the Firm

Theory, put to work.

Praxis People Advisory was founded on a simple conviction: organizations deserve people strategy that is as rigorous as their financial strategy, and as practical as their operations.

Our Story

The name is the thesis. Praxis is the point where knowledge stops being an idea and becomes something an organization can actually do.

Praxis People Advisory LLC is a boutique advisory firm based in Los Angeles and serving clients nationwide. We provide the full spectrum of human resources, talent, and organizational services to mission-driven organizations, growing companies, institutions of higher education, and the leaders who run them.

The firm was founded by Dr. Sarah M. Dorsainville after more than a decade inside organizations, building people functions, advising executive teams, and watching too many well-intentioned HR initiatives fail for the same reason: they were designed in theory and never adapted to the realities of the people expected to carry them out.

We built Praxis to close that gap. Our work draws on doctoral-level research training, senior HR executive experience at enterprise scale, and a national leadership role in the HR profession. What clients receive is counsel that has already been tested against legal scrutiny, budget constraints, and the ordinary friction of a Tuesday afternoon.

We are deliberately small. That is what allows our principal to lead every engagement personally and to know your organization well enough to give advice that fits.

How We Think

Four principles behind every engagement.

These are not values on a wall. They are the standards we hold our own work to, and the reasons clients return.

i.

Practice over theory

Research tells us what tends to work. Only practice tells us whether it will work here. We hold both, and we privilege the second.

ii.

Rigor without rigidity

Sound structure and sound judgment are not in tension. We bring discipline to the work and flexibility to how it lands in your organization.

iii.

People are the strategy

Culture, talent, and leadership are not support functions. They are how an organization's strategy actually happens, or does not.

iv.

Built to hold

We measure our work by whether it lasts after we leave. Capability transfer is part of every engagement, not an add-on.

Dr. Sarah M. Dorsainville, Owner and Principal Consultant of Praxis People Advisory
Dr. Sarah M. Dorsainville
PhD · SHRM-SCP · SPHR
Owner & Principal Consultant

Dr. Sarah M. Dorsainville

PhD, SHRM-SCP, SPHR

Dr. Sarah M. Dorsainville is an HR executive, scholar, and leadership coach with more than a decade of experience building people functions and developing leaders across nonprofit, higher education, media, and corporate environments. She founded Praxis People Advisory to bring enterprise-grade people strategy to organizations that need it and could not otherwise access it.

Alongside her work with the firm, she serves as Director of People Learning & Culture for a mission-driven organization of more than 1,300 employees, where she leads culture strategy, learning and development, employee experience, and internal people communications while advising executive leadership on the intersection of people and organizational performance. She was elected by her peers as Co-Director of Programs for the National Human Resources Association, where she helps shape the national learning agenda for HR professionals.

Her career began in higher education, including six years at the University of Southern California in talent development and organizational effectiveness, serving as a people partner to CHROs and senior university leaders. That foundation shapes how she works today: curious, grounded in evidence, and relentlessly oriented toward what actually changes outcomes.

Education
PhD, Urban Education Policy, University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education
M.Ed., Postsecondary Administration, University of Southern California
B.A., Sociology and B.A., Critical Diversity Studies, University of San Francisco
Certifications
SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)
Professional Leadership
Co-Director of Programs, National Human Resources Association
Director of People Learning & Culture, 1,300+ employee organization
University Teaching
Co-Instructor, Race in Education, USC Rossier School of Education
Co-Instructor, Research, Policy and Practice in Urban Education, USC Rossier
Co-Instructor, Hiring a Diverse Faculty, USC Race and Equity Center, 400+ professionals
Scholarship & Recognition
  • Contributing author, Emerald Publishing (2018)
  • Contributing researcher, Digital Equity Project (2017)
  • Order of Arete and Trojan Excellence Award, University of Southern California
  • Dean's Scholar and Outstanding First Year Student, USC Rossier School of Education
  • Esther Madriz Prize for Social Justice and Mentor of the Year, University of San Francisco
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Who We Serve

Organizations where people are the mission.

Our client work spans sectors, but it shares a common thread: organizations whose results depend entirely on the people inside them.

01

Nonprofit & Mission-Driven

Human services, education, community organizations, and foundations building people infrastructure at scale.

02

Higher Education

Universities and colleges navigating talent, culture, faculty hiring, and institutional change.

03

Media & Entertainment

Studios, networks, and production companies developing leaders and strengthening culture.

04

Growth-Stage Companies

Organizations that have outgrown informal HR and need structure that scales with them.

05

Civic & Membership

Associations, civic institutions, and professional bodies investing in their people and programs.

Next Step

Put the firm to work for your organization.

An initial conversation costs nothing and usually clarifies a great deal. Tell us what you are facing.

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