Inside, Outside, and In Between: Leading Across All Levels of Government

For our penultimate episode of EJB Talks for the spring 2025 semester, Bloustein School Young Alumni honoree and Advisory Board Member Sara Meyers MPP '09 shares her unconventional path into public policy, beginning with a background in music and German before being inspired by political events to pursue change from within government. She talks to Dean Stuart Shapiro about her extensive experience across various levels of government, from federal work at HUD, where she led major operational efforts, to local leadership roles in DC’s education system, and more recently as COO of the CHIPS Program Office at the Department of Commerce. As she ventures onto a new path with a climate-focused investment philanthropy organization, she emphasizes the value she found as a policy generalist, the importance of transferable skills like data analysis, writing, and project management, and the benefits of diverse experience in creating effective, impactful policy.