Sara Sanford, MPA, PMP®
Founding Board Member, Executive Director, GEN
Sara Sanford wants us to move from shared stories to shared data to solve gender inequity. As the founder of GEN, architect behind the GEN Certification, and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Washington’s School of Information, Sara works at the intersection of data, business development, and systemic equity.
Her track record of implementing evidence-backed solutions includes leading an initiative around women and wealth in the financial services industry, launching an international nonprofit to support rural education, and working with local foundations to foster cultural competence in WA’s K-12 schools. In all these roles, she saw that systemic problems are difficult to change through individual actions. With a focus on changing mechanics, rather than mindsets, she founded GEN.
As a Masters graduate of the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy, Sara focused on private-public partnerships and impact evaluation in the international development sector, contributing to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s report, "Millennium Development Goals: Targets and Indicators." She also developed monitoring and evaluation processes for several NGOs focused on sustainability and global health.
Sara believes we now have the tools for all business to be equity-centered, if they choose to be. She looks forward to the day when companies which are not gender equity-focused will be outnumbered by those that are.