• Senior Fellow, Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, Georgetown University

• Member, Participatory Grantmaking Community (PGM)

• Steering Committee, MENA YES! Summit, Jordan - Education for Employment Foundation (EFE)

From 2023 to 2025, Sarah served as the Senior Advisor for Youth (“Agency Youth Coordinator”) to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - the world’s largest bilateral donor. In this role, Sarah oversaw USAID’s Youth In Development Policy and implementation strengthening for $540 million in funding across 90+ country offices. Under her leadership, the agency achieved improved evidence and reporting for youth, and an increase in cross-functional youth programming by more than $15M per year. 

As USAID’s representative for global youth issues, Sarah translated complex data for expert and non-expert audiences. She managed key relationships across civil society and government, advising USG inter-agency partners at the State Department, the White House, the NSC, and in Congress on global youth issues, strategy and new legislation, including the H.R.5851 - Youth, Peace & Security Act.

Sarah advanced USAID’s commitments to inclusive youth engagement and locally-led development, promoting a stronger focus on youth within USAID’s localization priorities, and in new Agency policies and initiatives for Economic Resilience, Economic Growth & Trade, and Migration. In this capacity, she provided technical advising and training to PEPFAR’s $20 million Youth Initiative (2024-2025) to strengthen youth-focused HIV programming, center youth HIV leadership, and promote innovation in HIV prevention, case finding, and treatment outcomes. Sarah also co-designed and piloted USAID’s first-ever Youth Engagement training for more than 90 staff and partners from nearly 30 countries, strengthening the Agency’s readiness to work directly with young people while ensuring inclusion, safeguarding and protection.

As a champion for sport for social impact, Sarah positioned USAID’s Youth Office as a hub for evidence and learning on the integration of sport to achieve positive child and youth development outcomes. In support of these goals, she spearheaded new partnerships with the aim to develop a first-of-its-kind sport for development training for USAID and State Department staff. She also co-launched the inter-agency working group for Youth and Sport for Development, a strategic partnership with the State Department’s Office of Sports Diplomacy.

Prior to government service, Sarah spent 15+ years as a child and youth development practitioner and advocate, specializing in youth economic opportunities, engagement, and peacebuilding. She has country-level experience in the United States and in five global regions, including Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Eurasia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Community Development

At Making Cents International (2016 - 2022) Sarah served as a the company’s Youth Development Practice Lead and as Senior Technical Advisor for Youth Engagement to USAID's five-year, multi-million-dollar YouthPower2: Learning and Evaluation (YP2LE) project. In these roles, she designed and implemented multiple global youth fellowship programs for emerging young professionals, social impact leaders and entrepreneurs, as well as government-facing youth advisory groups, including USAID’s first-ever Care Leaders Council and Digital Youth Leadership Council (focused on care reform and the digital skilling and the prevention of digital harm, respectively). She also oversaw cross-functional and Positive Youth Development (PYD) programs with focus on workforce readiness, career pathways, work-based learning, social innovation, skill building, leadership, and mentorship.

As the Director of Making Cent’s Youth Economic Opportunities Network and annual Global Summit, Sarah led a collaborative research and learning community of 500+ youth development experts, researchers, funders, and innovators from 75+ countries. Her leadership of the YEO Network contributed to the evidence base for youth work readiness, STEM, entrepreneurship and economic mobility, and helped expand new learning on related topics such as climate and green jobs, digital technology, and mental health integration in youth and workforce development programs.

At the Education Development Center, Inc., (2009 - 2011) Sarah oversaw knowledge management for the Education Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP3) designed to improve earning, learning, and skill development opportunities for out-of-school youth in 26 countries. The program prioritized assistance to organizations working with marginalized populations, including girls, minorities, and traditionally under-served groups.

Advocacy & Coalition Building

At InterAction (2011 - 2016) Sarah was the first full-time hire for the Alliance for International Youth Development (AIYD), overseeing operations and successfully growing the coalition from a voluntary member network of nine organizations to 24 leading child and youth development implementers and funders. In this role, Sarah engaged members of Congress and their staffs, as well as leadership across the USG to advocate for young people as a foreign assistance priority and key partners in development. In 2012, she supported the successful launch of USAID’s first ever Youth In Development Policy.

Youth Leadership

Sarah started her journey in youth development 22 years ago at Seeds of Peace where she supported peacebuilding and leadership with young people from the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, the Balkans, and communities across the United States. The experience instilled a lifelong commitment to promoting the agency and leadership of young people as changemakers - and the power of sport as a shared language to build trust, dialogue, and leadership across lines of division.

Project Management

• Certification, Project Management for Development Professionals (Project DPro), Humentum, June 2022.

• Certification, Managing to Change the World, The Management Center, November 2021

Training & Facilitation

• Positive Youth Development (PYD)Trainer of Trainers (ToT)

• Co-Designer and Lead, Meaningful & Inclusive Youth Engagement (MIYE)

• Facilitating Youth Voices, Seeds of Peace, March 2022

• Extensive experience in curricula, workshop design, and training. Completed 1,000+ hours of training and facilitation for government staff, local and global implementing partners, partner governments, and young people in four geographic regions.

Technical

• Positive Youth Development (PYD) 101: The Fundamentals of Effective Youth Programming - 2020

• Positive Youth Development (PYD) 201: Applying Fundamentals of Effective Youth Programming - 2020

• Soft Skills Development in Youth Programming - June 2022

• MA, International Development. Concentration: Children & Youth, School of International Service (SIS), American University, Washington, DC, 2007-2009

• BA, Cum Laude, Politics & History, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, 1999-2003

• The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Department of Government, 2001 - 2002

Honors

• On-The-Spot (OTS) Award, Issued by USAID for Outstanding Performance, September 2024

• Global Salzburg Fellow, Issued by Global Salzburg Seminar, Apr 2015 - Present

• SIS Master’s Study Scholarship for the Institute for Democracy & Development, Cape Town, South Africa, Issued by School of International Service (SIS), American University, Jan 2008

• Ruth C. Lawson Fellowship in International Politics (2007 & 2008), Issued by Mount Holyoke College for Graduate Studies, Sep 2007

Representation

• Interview, The Public Service Project (Podcast), June 10, 2026.

• Host & Report Co-Author/Presenter, Engaging Young People As Partners in Policy and Practice: Lessons from 25 Years of Global Youth Development and the Path Forward, April 24, 2026, Georgetown University.

• Speaker, Youth @ Heart +5 In Dutch Development Cooperation, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, March 24, 2026.

• Panelist, “Youth & Democracy's Futures”, The Georgetown Democracy Initiative, Thursday, November 13, 2025

• Co-Host, “Youth, Trust, and Civic Engagement: How Young People See America Today” with Georgetown University & UNICEF USA, November 18, 2025

• Co-Host & Lead Facilitator Youth & AI: Risks, Opportunities, and Insights Across the Generational Divide, #YouthLead Festival, 80th UN General Assembly (UNGA), New York, NY, 2025

• Lead, USAID YouthCorps Working Group, 2023 - 2025

• Co-Founder, Youth & Sport for Development Working Group, USAID Youth Office & State Department Office of Sport for Diplomacy, 2023-2025

• Member, USAID Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) Task-Team

• Member, Sub-Interagency Policy Committee on US Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls, 2023-2025

• Member, Youth, Peace & Security Inter-Agency Working Group, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), 2024-2025

• USG Delegation Rep & Speaker, ECOSOC Youth Forum, United Nations, New York, NY, April 16-18, 2024

• USG Delegation with UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Summit for Democracy, San Jose, Costa Rica, March 2023

• Co-Design & Lead, USAID Africa Youth Engagement Summit, Accra, Ghana, September 2023

Recent Public Speaking

• Expert Contributor, One Young World & The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Official Development Assistance (ODA) Academy, September 2024.

• Youth Accelerator Fireside Chat, “Building Connections: Career Networking Circles for Professional Growth”, The Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit (GYEO), September 2024.

• Opening Plenary, Navigating Tomorrow: The Vital Role of Mental Health & Psychosocial Support in Development Programming, Mindful Futures Symposium, FHI 360, April 11, 2024

• Plenary Speaker, “Building the Capacity of Youth to Play an Effective Role in Peace and Security,” Society for International Development (SID-US) Conference, April 26, 2024

• Speaker & Moderator, Protecting Children and Youth from Digital Harm Virtual Symposium, USAID, February 2024

• One Young World Summit: Moderator, How Youth Leaders Can Shape International Development, OYW Belfast, 2023 & US Support for Young Indigenous Leaders on Climate Action, OYW Montreal/Tiohtiá:ke, September 2024

• Plenary Speaker, “A Decentralized Approach to a Sustainable and Resilient Recovery,” World Bank Youth Summit, May 26, 2023

• Lead, Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit, 2016 - 2020

Relevant Publications

• USAID Technical Brief: Youth & Locally-Led Development, November 2024.

• USAID Technical Brief, Youth & Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MH-PSS), August 2024.

• USAID Youth In Development Policy Learning Agenda, 2024-2027.

• Co-Author, Legacy and Vision What four young Indigenous leaders want to leave to the world, USAID Medium, Sep 17, 2024

• Agency Youth Coordinator Sarah Sladen Discusses USAID’s Vision for Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Engagement, USAID, March 30, 2023

• Contributor, Positive Youth Development - PYD Lab Podcast - Can Online Mentoring Have an Impact? YouthLead Mentoring Initiative, October 2021.

• Co-Author, Youth Advisory Councils: Eight Steps to Consider Before You Engage, YouthPower Learning Youth Engagement Community of Practice, Jan 20, 2020.

• Project Lead, Engaging Youth Across Global Company Supply Chains. Making Cents International. 2019.

• Contributing Author: EQUIP3 Lessons Learned (2003-2012): Experiences in Livelihoods, Literacy, and Leadership in Youth Programs in 26 Countries. Education Development Center, EDC Inc.