An entrepreneur, educator and community development specialist, Sara’s 25 years of experience across five continents and over fifteen countries gives her an abiding appreciation for the power of people committed to the future of their communities.
Sara is Founder of Anchor Schools, a social impact advisory firm working to transform the role schools play in our communities. Prior to launching her own venture, Sara consulted to schools and nonprofits, including start-up strategy and curriculum design for Future Leadership School (Hainan Province, China). As Program Director for Global Programs at African Leadership Academy (Johannesburg, South Africa) she led programs for students and educators from around the world that generated revenue for academy scholarships. At Hawken School (Cleveland, Ohio) she led global programs and was the founding director of The Sally & Bob Gries Center for Experiential and Service Learning, which serves as a community-based learning model for independent schools. Sara served six years on the Board of Directors of ISEEN (Independent Schools Experiential Education Network) and has been on the Advisory Board of International Partners in Mission (IPM) and a Trustee of the Great Lakes Basin Conservancy since 2005.
Sara started her professional life in the humanitarian assistance sector, addressing systemic poverty and injustice through civil society and education capacity-building in post-conflict contexts, including nine years with Catholic Relief Services. A multi-country initiative she led in the Balkans called Parent-School-Partnerships sparked her passion to transform schools into levers for change.
Sara holds a BA in Anthropology from Amherst College, an MA in International Development and Social Change from Clark University, and an MS.Ed in Education Entrepreneurship from University of Pennsylvania.