SARA CLEVENGER

ABOUT

Sara Clevenger is the Chief Executive Officer of Blue River Financial Group. She joined the firm in May 2012 and spent 14 years building and leading its buy-side advisory practice before stepping into the CEO role, bringing with her the relationships, team, and institutional knowledge that define Blue River today.

As CEO, Sara is focused on advancing the firm’s decision-intelligence platform, deepening relationships with owners and buyers across the middle market, and ensuring Blue River continues to deliver outcomes that close well and endure.

Over her years at the firm, Sara has cultivated relationships with some of the most reputable market-leading acquirers in the middle market, pursuing acquisitive growth across Business Services, Industrials, Automation, Software/IT, and Healthcare. Under her leadership, Blue River’s buy-side team has represented clients on more than $2.1B in closed transaction value and earned five consecutive M&A Top Firm of the Year recognitions, from 2022 through 2026, from the M&A Source.

Before Blue River, Sara spent more than a decade in commercial real estate with The Sembler Company in St. Petersburg, FL, and The Staubach Company in Southfield, MI, gaining transaction experience from both the developer-owner and tenant-occupant perspectives. She credits that work as foundational to her transactional discipline and her approach to leadership.

Sara holds a B.A. from studies at the University of Tampa and the University of Michigan and carries the Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA) credential through the Alliance of Mergers and Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA). She is a regular columnist in M&A publications and an active collaborator with the Smart Business Dealmakers Host Committee. She is also a longtime member of Sweet Adelines International, one of the world’s largest nonprofit music education organizations for women.