A. Contact information
B. Experience by geographic region
C. Areas of expertise
D. Gender expertise
E. Other relevant information
Sarah is the Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion Lead for Climate Resilient Communities, a program that supports the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to implement the government’s commitments to increase gender responsive and socially inclusive climate and disaster resilience in the Indo Pacific. From 2023-24, Sarah was the Gender and Climate Specialist on a US State Department project to increase commitments across APEC economies. Prior to that, Sarah was the Director of Policy and Advocacy at Data2X at the United Nations Foundation in Washington D.C, working to close global gender data gaps to ensure women and girls are made visible in policy making.
Sarah is a woman with disability and has been working at the intersection of gender equality, inclusion, climate change, and peace and security over the past 20 years to advance women’s rights and sustainable development. Her work on the women, peace and security agenda began during her time in Nepal during their armed conflict, and her Masters thesis (2007) research examining the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Nepal.
Sarah has worked in international development, foreign policy, peacebuilding and humanitarian response, focussed on advancing international gender equality policy, women’s participation in peace processes, women’s sexual and reproductive health, gender responsive humanitarian action, and eliminating sexual and gender based violence. Her work with AusAID and DFAT from 2008 included postings and deployments to Pakistan (humanitarian response to the 2010-11 floods), Timor Leste (gender responsive disaster risk reduction), and Myanmar (Gender Adviser
to increase women’s participation in the peace process).
Sarah has worked for Oxfam Australia as the Afghanistan and Pakistan Portfolio Manager, been a Civil Society Adviser on Australia’s delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women, and worked with civil society and women’s rights organisations across South and South-East Asia. As Principal at The Gender Agency, she has worked with governments, the United Nations, international organisations and the private sector to advance gender equality and human rights in development. She was also a CLimate Technology Fellow with Startmate.
Sarah was an Australian Fulbright Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she earned a Masters in Public Administration (gender and public policy) and Certificate in Management, Leadership and Decision Sciences. Sarah also earned a Masters in International Development (Gender and Peacebuilding), a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and a Diploma of Chinese from the University of Melbourne.