Sara has more than 10 years of experience in social science research, program evaluation, and program development. Over the past decade, Sara has led and collaborated on projects focused on understanding and reducing gender, health, and social inequities. Her recent projects have focused on mental and sexual health promotion, poverty reduction, COVID-19 vaccine equity, and youth development. Sara is experienced in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, and is particularly interested in the power of narrative as a way to better understand the complexity and nuance of people’s lived experiences. She is passionate about participatory approaches to research and evaluation that bring people with lived experience into the decision-making and research process. Her recent projects have worked collaboratively with teams of youth advisors to build mental health and self-esteem curricula that is relevant and relatable to youth.
Sara worked part-time for TNC before joining the team full-time as a Senior Research Consultant in 2022. Before working with TNC, Sara completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology at the University of Windsor, where she is now an adjunct assistant professor. Through her research and teaching, Sara works to build collaborations between academic researchers and institutions and the broader community to share and co-create knowledge and resources.