Sarah’s career spans more than 30 years of leadership in international development, humanitarian response, and crisis recovery. Throughout that time, she has worked alongside governments, communities, civil society organisations, and international partners to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges and support people most affected by crises. Her professional journey began in complex post-conflict environments, including Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where she worked with USAID and the U.S. Department of State in the mid-1990s. Since then, she has served in a range of senior leadership roles within United Nations Development Programme, including as Deputy Director of the Global Policy and Programme Bureau; as Assistant Secretary-General a.i., overseeing UNDP’s programming and operations across the Arab States during the COVID-19 pandemic; and as Special Representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, leading UNDP and served as the a.i. UN Humanitarian Coordinator. These experiences shaped her understanding of leadership under pressure, across cultures, and in environments where trust, resilience, and collaboration are essential. Today, she coaches and advises professionals at levels of their leadership journey — emerging leaders and senior executives — as they navigate complexity and opportunity. Her clients are professionals globally — in Africa, Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the US — serving in international organisations, NGOs, social impact enterprises, private sector, and government institutions. She supports individuals seeking to lead in alignment with their values and purpose, and organisations striving to strengthen leadership, navigate change, increase impact, and thrive in an increasingly complex and uncertain environment.  

Her coaching and advisory work is grounded in lived leadership experience and a deep curiosity about what enables people to grow, adapt, communicate, and lead effectively in complex systems. She believes that meaningful leadership is not only about achieving results; it is also about aligning actions with values, fostering connection, enabling learning, and contributing to positive change.