Sabrina Wood, PhD
Sabrina Wood, PhD is a Senior Partner at Solution Architects Group, LLC based in the Greater Chicago Area, where she leads strategic initiatives across Workday talent, performance, learning, and employee experience domains. With a strong foundation in industrial-organizational psychology and business consulting, she integrates psychological principles with enterprise technology to help organizations strengthen workforce systems, improve employee engagement, and deliver more human-centered HR solutions. Her work focuses on aligning business goals with people strategies while ensuring high-quality client outcomes and collaborative team environments.
Throughout her career, she has built a multidisciplinary background spanning higher education, mental health counseling, and organizational consulting. She holds advanced degrees in business psychology and forensic psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and has contributed extensively as an adjunct instructor, dissertation committee member, and curriculum developer. In addition to her academic roles, she is Workday-certified across multiple domains, including Talent, Performance, Learning, Peakon, and People Analytics, bringing both technical expertise and applied behavioral science into her consulting practice.
Her professional philosophy centers on compassionate leadership, mentorship, and preventing burnout in high-performance environments. She is deeply committed to fostering authentic leadership, supporting team development, and promoting inclusive workplace cultures where individuals can thrive. Across her consulting and teaching work, she emphasizes the importance of balancing technological advancement with humanity—ensuring that employees and organizations benefit from systems that are both efficient and empathetic.
• Compassionate Leadership Certification
• Workday People Analytics
• Workday Custom Fields for Administrators
• Workday Peakon Employee Voice
• Social and Behavioral Research - Basic/Refresher
• Launch
• Project Manager
• Own It: The Power of Women at Work
• Creating a Positive and Healthy Work Environment
• Rolling Out a Diversity and Inclusion Training Program in Your Company
• Mentorship, Sponsorship, and Lifting Others as You Climb
• Being a Good Mentor
• Learning Canvas
• How Leaders Can Connect Empathy and Results
• Creating Great First Impressions
• Consulting Foundations: The Concept of Value
• Consulting Foundations: Client Management and Relationships
• Inclusive Leadership
• The Chicago School - Ph.D.
• Workday Kickstarter Badge and Recognition (2025)
• Outstanding Staff Member
• Most Enthusiastic Volunteer Award
• Chicago IO Psychologists
• Apraxia Foundation
• American Cancer Society
• Almost Home Foundation
• Braven
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to perseverance, especially during the early stages of my career when I actively and persistently pursued opportunities, as well as to my strong educational foundation, including my PhD in Business Psychology. I also value the meaningful relationships and mentorships I have built—both as a mentor and a mentee—and I remain committed to staying authentic and grounded in my consulting work.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received came during a difficult time in my work as a mental health counselor, after losing a client. My supervisor reminded me that I could still create meaningful change at the organizational level, even if my path in direct clinical work felt overwhelming. That perspective shift ultimately inspired me to pursue my PhD and transition into organizational consulting, where I can continue making a positive impact in a way that is both sustainable and aligned with my strengths.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this industry is to find a place where you can be your whole, authentic self. When you do, you build your confidence and grow in a more grounded and supportive environment. Success is not about fitting into a cookie-cutter mold, but about ensuring your voice and perspective are valued and can be shared meaningfully. The Workday consulting industry can be challenging to break into, and imposter syndrome is very common early on, but it’s important to remember that you don’t have to shrink yourself to belong. True impact comes from balancing technical skill with humanity while continuing to learn and grow as your authentic self.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges and opportunities in my field right now is the rise of AI and how it is reshaping the workplace. I recently led a webinar for my alma mater on compassionate leadership and the role of AI in maintaining humanity at work, and I am currently developing another focused on maximizing AI within Workday while preserving the human element. While AI offers powerful insights and can provide perspectives we might miss when we are deeply focused on our work, it is still essential that we do not lose sight of the human impact behind decisions. The opportunity lies in using AI as a tool to enhance our thinking and analytics, while ensuring that final decisions remain thoughtful, ethical, and human-centered.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are authenticity, compassion, and kindness. I also deeply value mentorship and creating opportunities for inclusion and accessibility, ensuring others feel seen, supported, and empowered. Mental health awareness is equally important to me, as I strive to foster environments where people can bring their whole selves without fear of stigma or judgment.