Sarah Haight is Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s director of 2Gen practice. Sarah works with a national network of more than 500 leaders and organizations who are exploring, incubating, or implementing 2Gen approaches, which provide opportunities for and meet the needs of children and the adults in their lives together. She also manages key convenings and grantmaking strategies to ensure a legacy of educational success, economic security, and health and well-being passes from one generation to the next.
Sarah’s career focuses on economic inclusion and supporting practitioners to translate their work with families to influence policy and systems change. Since joining Ascend in 2011, she has managed technical assistance to the Ascend Network, comprised of 500+ practitioners, policymakers, and researchers focused on 2Gen approaches; managed the Aspen ThinkXChange, the national forum on 2Gen solutions; the Aspen Forum on Children and Families, Ascend’s largest public convening; and grantmaking and innovation community strategies, including the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community. She partners across Ascend to develop and package tools and resources to equip organizations and leaders to better serve families with low incomes.
Prior to joining Ascend in 2012, Sarah worked as an editor and journalist at Conde Nast in New York City. She earned her Master of Social Work degree from the Silver School of Social Work at New York University and has worked as a therapist in direct-practice clinical settings with women with low incomes, with a focus on maternal mental health. She is licensed to practice social work in New York and the District of Columbia.