Sarah is a senior policy analyst at the Boston Fed. Prior to joining the Bank in 2013, she worked in research settings in the fields of substance abuse treatment at the University of Georgia and separately in criminal justice at the Crime and Justice Institute. Sarah studied the adoption of and readiness for evidence-based practices. As a graduate student at the University of New Hampshire, she worked at the Carsey Institute in an evaluation and research capacity.

As part of the Bank’s work to increase employment opportunities, Sarah is conducting research on barriers to positive labor force engagement of low- and moderate-income (LMI) parents in the region, with an intensive examination of the role of childcare needs. Sarah’s efforts have also focused on issues related to household economic security and equity. In partnership with three MA-based community colleges and two nonprofits, Sarah evaluated a pilot intended to help students with college affordability, connected with community colleges throughout the region to understand the financial complexities students face, developed deep knowledge of federally supported asset-building programs—Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)—and shared lessons learned related to the scalability of IDAs.

Sarah earned her B.S. from Babson College and her Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire.