About
Erika Sturm, President
As President and Senior Advisor at Essential Stewards, Erika partners with mission-driven organizations to steward their resources with clarity, care, and confidence.
With more than two decades of leadership in finance and operations, Erika has worked across public health consultancies, national service organizations, global health nonprofits, and start-up biotechs. She has led financial planning, grants management, budgeting, compliance, and reporting for complex, multi-funded portfolios and guided organizations through periods of growth, change, and volatility.
Erika has overseen millions of dollars in public and philanthropic funding, designed indirect cost methodologies, led audits and monitoring reviews, and translated complex regulations into practical, usable systems. She is especially skilled at building tools and processes that reduce risk, support staff, and give leaders the information they need to make thoughtful decisions.
At the core of Erika’s work is a commitment to stewardship—building financial and operational systems that serve the mission, protect the organization, and support long-term sustainability. As a consultant, she brings a collaborative, operator’s perspective, working alongside leaders to strengthen internal capacity and move organizations forward with confidence.
Erika holds an MBA from Boston University, and undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In her free time, you can find Erika tending her garden, nurturing her sourdough starter, or playing with her cats. Erika loves a good hike or ski day, always has a book nearby, and believes that patience and care—whether with people, plants, or organizations—make all the difference.