Fordham University

Barnard College

Middlebury College

Nonprofit leader, educator, and researcher with a passion for youth development

Provide custom services including:
- One-on-one coaching using Gallup's CliftonStrengths framework
- Team/group training sessions on CliftonStrengths & group dynamics
- Curriculum design
- Copyediting and report writing services, primarily in the field of labor market research

Sarah Burns - Coaching, Training & Research Consulting

Coach & Consultant

Developed content and taught 11-week online Canvas courses for aspiring and current career advisers in workforce agencies, colleges, or private practice. These are two of three courses that lead to the Specialized Certificate in Career Advising. 

Course 1: Skill Development for Career Advisors

Topics included: vocational theory (with a focus on the RIASEC), communication & customer service, human-centered design, coaching & training, labor market research, job search techniques & personal brand, case management best practices, interacting with employers, and working within the broader context of workforce development.

Course 2: Specialty Areas for Career Advisors

Topics included: Examining specialized resources, employment support needs and best practices for serving individuals with disabilities, new Americans, mature workers, justice-involved individuals, veterans, housing insecure job seekers, and youth job seekers.

UC San Diego Extension

Instructor

• Develops and executes on strategy to adapt and deploy labor-market research and career navigation best practices through tools, curricula, and customized collaborations with school districts, the publicly funded workforce-development system and its network of providers; leverage expert knowledge in labor-market information, career navigation strategies and training best practices.
• Oversees the creation, curation, and delivery of online, in-person, and hybrid learning experiences that support the career development of students and job seekers across San Diego County. 
• Leads the development of professional learning experiences for career counselors and educators. 

Example projects:
• Designed an innovative new career center at Cajon Valley Middle School to support students and their families in exploring education and career possibilities and taking the next steps toward their career goals.
• Collaboration with San Diego County Office of Education to develop essential-skills rubrics guiding students and job seekers in evaluating their work readiness.
• Collaboration with Chula Vista Elementary School District to script and record videos on each of six essential skills to be used in collaboration with online learning units at the elementary level. 
• Co-designed 2021 Strong Workforce Faculty Institute 6-day offering with Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research. Course title: Labor Market Information Training for Instructional Faculty, Counselors, and Career Advisors.

San Diego Workforce Partnership

Director of Learning

• Created new department to develop and implement comprehensive program-evaluation strategy. Centralized survey design and administration and created dashboards to facilitate conversation around program improvements. Provided training on crafting outcome and impact targets.
• Set research agenda and led team in developing over 50 reports, briefs, and e-news articles.
• Managed million-dollar budget with more than a dozen funding sources; tracked and ensured adherence to funder requirements and target expenditure rates; generated more than $100,000 in discretionary funding from fee-for-service research projects.
• Managed, developed, and coached four-person research team and rotating interns to create a highly collaborative culture that fostered mutual trust and respect.
• Built and maintained high-value relationships in national, state (California), and county (San Diego) networks. Served on community boards and working groups to support mutually beneficial work in K-12 and higher ed, economic and workforce development, community and social services, and government.
• Represented SDWP at more than 40 speaking engagements, media appearances, and community events to promote our research and speak as an expert on regional workforce trends and evaluation best practices.
• Contributed to development of organization’s strategic plan. Authored research-related goals; provided extensive review and advised leadership team members on setting goals in relation to labor-market conditions and evaluation best practices.
• Led two internal initiatives to improve employee retention:
• Formed committee to evaluate performance of retirement plans; hired retirement advisor to serve as fiduciary; consolidated plans under one recordkeeper resulting in lower expense ratios for plan participants.
• Designed three new career-progression pathways; solicited and incorporated feedback from executive leadership and revised company policy to reflect new career opportunities for employees.

Director of Research & Evaluation

•	Was lead author of Flip the Script: Understanding the Story of San Diego’s Opportunity Youth, a first-of-its-kind report in the region detailing the demographics and barriers of the 40,000+ local youth disconnected from both work and school. Managed research teams from USD, USC Price, and 2-1-1 San Diego to conduct and synthesize quantitative, qualitative, and geographic analyses. Presented solutions for community organizations to serve these youth more effectively. This work resulted in widespread community engagement, increased funding from the City of San Diego, and targeted strategies at local school districts.
•	Presented at more than a dozen events to help community organizations to understand and apply labor-market data to programmatic and funding decisions; taught over 200 educators and students to use labor-market data in personal career planning.
•	Managed two research analysts and four external vendors to produce seven labor-market research reports; copyedited all reports before publication. Oversaw and advised on qualitative and quantitative research methods and data-visualization best practices.
•	Wrote more than 10 Requests for Quotes (RFQs) and Requests for Proposals (RFPs); oversaw procurement process from beginning to end and managed contractors’ performance.
•	Led planning, designed programming, and served as MC for 2017 Workforce Conference, which educated 500 attendees on latest labor-market research through panels, presentations, and group conversations. 
•	Participated in California Workforce Association’s year-long executive bootcamp.

Research Manager

•	Leveraged Agile methodology and JIRA software to manage international team of analysts, designers, developers operating in California, Vietnam, and Israel.
•	Wrote proposals, defined project deliverables, set and managed timelines and interfaced with clients.
•	Identified data sets and designed visualizations to investigate research questions for foundation and nonprofit clients.
•	Collaborated with designers and developers to build software for finding data, creating visualizations, sharing insights.

Posiba

Project Manager

•	Partnered with Qualcomm and local nonprofits to coordinate design of corporate skill-based volunteerism program. 
•	Researched prospective grants and donors; evaluated potential for funding.
•	Prepared grant proposals and implemented Salesforce-based solutions for grant management.
•	Generated reports through Salesforce to monitor progress toward annual fundraising goals.
•	Used SurveyMonkey to design and administer community needs assessments; analyzed data and presented major findings.
•	Drafted press releases and marketing materials.
•	Managed Mission Edge's social media presence and strategy.

Mission Edge

Programs and Marketing Coordinator

•	Designed and facilitated workshops on curriculum design for 1st and 2nd year math teachers and provided individual support around planning and assessment.

Teach For America

Leader: Math Teaching & Learning Community

•	Utilized frequent assessment and data analysis using Microsoft Excel to create targeted algebra and geometry curricula for students repeating the course. 
•	Developed inquiry-based activities and engaging lessons grounded in real world to bring math alive for students.
•	Designed and facilitated school-wide professional development around Common Core curriculum design and standards alignment.
•	Supported department heads in all content areas in PD design and long-term planning for department-specific curriculum goals.

Hyde Leadership Charter School

High School Math Teacher, Staff Developer

•	While attending three-week Park City Mathematics Institute, developed 90-minute professional development (PD) module on modeling with quadratics in the Common Core. 
•	Designed and facilitated six-hour PD for Bay District Schools in Florida including this and three other modules focused on Common Core implementation.

Committee for Teachers as Professionals (C-TaP)

National Workshop Developer/Facilitator

•	Awarded fellowship for public secondary school mathematics teachers who exhibit “outstanding potential, a dedication to professional development and an interest in collaboration with the Math for America community.”  
•	Participated in monthly professional development workshops, including professional learning teams focusing on developing performance tasks, effective class group work, and coaching teachers.  
•	Selected to represent MfA at 2013 Park City Mathematics Institute Summer School Teachers Program.

Math for America

Early Career Fellow

•	Pushed students to make cross-curricular connections with science while studying geometry and algebra.
•	Designed Common Core professional development series for math team that examined best practices for ELL and SPED support, assessment of Standards for Mathematical Practice, and development of rigorous modeling tasks. 
•	Collaboratively created assessment tools, teaching strategies, and vertically-aligned curricula to transition to Common Core. 
•	Led peer-observation initiative that incorporated goal setting and feedback based on the Danielson Framework.
•	Supported development of new teachers’ skills in planning and classroom management.

The Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice

High School Math Teacher, Team Lead, Staff Developer

•	Selected from over 30,000 applicants nationwide to join national teacher corps and commit two years to teach in under-resourced public schools. 
•	Participated in rigorous summer training program to develop skills and knowledge needed to achieve significant gains in student achievement.

Teach for America

Corps Member

•	Managed staff selection, training, and evaluation for weeklong leadership institute serving 150 teenagers. 
•	Oversaw team of approximately 40 volunteer staff in year-round planning and camp execution.
•	Assisted with development and implementation of new programs, including day camp, advanced tracks, and staff-in-training.
•	Coordinated camp logistics including scheduling, classroom assignments, transportation, and guest speakers.