Sarah is a Florida native (which explains why she loves the heat and humidity so much). She grew up in Fort Meade, and she attended Southeastern University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. While at Southeastern, Sarah worked as a freelance writer at The Ledger newspaper and, after college, Charisma magazine. In 2011, Sarah moved to Jerusalem, Israel, to become a high school literature teacher. It was there she met her husband, Josh (a California native), who was already working there as a government teacher. They married in 2012 and moved to Lakeland. Sarah immediately began working for the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce as an Administrative Assistant for the Member Relations and Public Policy divisions. In 2014, Sarah and Josh returned to Jerusalem for one year.
In 2016, however, she returned to the Lakeland Chamber as Director of Initiatives, and she is now Chief Operating Officer, which includes serving as the Program Director for Leadership Lakeland. Sarah is the Chamber liaison for EMERGE Lakeland’s Steering Committee and the Leadership Lakeland Alumni Association, and she is a graduate of Leadership Lakeland Class 34, Leadership Polk Class 12, and EMERGE Serves Class 7. In addition, she is a member of The Lakeland Rotary Club (current Board member and District 6890 Speech Contest Chair) and is a community organizer for 1 Million Cups Lakeland. Previously Sarah served on the Polk Vision Talent Pipeline Team/CFDC Education Committee, Homeless Coalition of Polk County’s Continuum of Care Governance Board, and Southeastern University’s College of Arts & Media Advisory Board. Sarah is DiSC® certified, is a recipient of the 2019 Polk Emerging Leaders Award, and in August 2019 she completed her MBA with a concentration in Executive Leadership from SEU.
