Dr. Sarah Fitzharding

Co-Founder and Co-President

Sarah has over 25 years of strategic planning and qualitative research experience spanning the worlds of academia, non-profit leadership and government, as well as advertising and marketing. Having studied at Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, she has a Ph.D. in psychology and a Masters in criminology. She conducted research for Her Majesty’s Prison Service, and has taught qualitative research methods at Cambridge, London and Columbia Universities. Her study of diverse populations has also included pioneering research within the LGBTQ+ community.

In co-founding Galileo, it has been her mission to find new ways to infuse market research practices with deep psychological understanding and cutting-edge protocols from therapeutic practice, creating techniques that bridge the conscious and subconscious and thus more profoundly access consumer triggers, barriers and beliefs. Her research and consulting experience has spanned categories from healthcare and technology to luxury and financial services, always with a focus on deep psychological insight and strategic, action-oriented recommendations. Within healthcare, she is particularly fascinated by questions related to the doctor-patient dynamic, and the patterns of denial that can contribute to patients not voicing (or sometimes even acknowledging) their true needs. Sarah has also pioneered the research application of techniques that harness the mind-body connection, recognizing that this can be a critical key to understanding the true impact of health-related experiences.

Prior to forming Galileo, Sarah was a Planning Director at J. Walter Thompson, NY, where for 7 years she guided businesses such as Pfizer, Merck and the Diamond Trading Company.