Sarah Wolfords

Sarah Wolfolds is the Andrew Paul Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow and assistant professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Before joining Cornell in 2016, she received her doctorate in Strategy from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics from Swarthmore College. Professor Wolfolds spent time working at both the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors prior to attending graduate school.

Professor Wolfolds’ research examines the interaction between for-profit and nonprofit organizations in industries where they coexist. While nonprofits may want to differentiate themselves when faced with additional nonprofit competition, it is unclear whether they would want to differentiate themselves or converge toward for-profit competitors. Her research addresses this issue by considering the different financing models, human resource systems, and objectives of nonprofit organizations, as compared to for-profits, in the mixed industry of microfinance. Professor Wolfolds’ recent research also examines issues surrounding financial exclusion in the United States.

Professor Wolfolds was awarded a grant by the Strategic Research Foundation to further pursue her dissertation research.