Hi, I'm Sarah!
> Designer
> Creative
> Advocate
An Austin, Texas native, I've lived in the Washington, New York, the UK, and China. My academic background is in language (Norwegian and Chinese), cultural theory, and urban planning.
I started out in community organizing before moving into design and data work. My entire career has been focused on making services and systems more equitable and accessible.​I've spent the last seven years working on wicked problems such as homelessness, surveillance, and public and mental health at the local and state level.
Working on small innovation and digital service teams, I have held multiple roles including designer, user researcher, data analyst, project manager, and policy analyst. I also worked at the Beeck Center at Georgetown University helping to document and build networks between innovation and digital service teams across the country.​
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Please reach out if you're interested in collaborating or working together!
Making the Abstract Concrete. Paperless installation of PDFs on austintexas.gov.
Work
October 2023 to Present
Downtown Austin Community Court
October 2022 to April 2023
State of Colorado
January 2021 to October 2021
Office of Police Oversight
Designer and Lead
Data and Program Practice Innovations
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The Downtown Austin Community Court (DACC) is a community court at the municipal level, primarily serving Austin residents experiencing homelessness. In addition to court services, DACC has units dedicated to case management and community services.
At DACC, I oversee the prototyping and implementation of the Mobile Court Program, which has served over 900 individuals experiencing homelessness in Central Texas to date. My responsibilities include, coordinating and partnering with leadership, middle management, and front-line staff at City, County, and nonprofit and faith-based organizations to build strategic relationships, achieve common goals, and resolve sensitive issues. I've also introduced user research, service design, human-centered design, and agile processes to advocate for resources and process improvements and address conflicting priorities. I've created and implemented data processes, including data collection, analysis, and visualization. I've also introduced best practices for redesigning and digitizing the Court forms, including UI/UX patterns from the US Web Design System, VA Web Governance, and Trauma Informed Design practices. I advise on technology and innovation practices, which involves analyzing federal requirements, user needs, and leadership priorities, designing best practices, and recommending projects and strategies for the Court.
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Digital Service Expert
Behavioral Health Administration​
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Colorado's Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) ensures quality mental health and substance use services for all Coloradans.
A BJA, I co-created engagement toolkit with Behavioral Health Administration designers, facilitated and led meetings, including an all-day workshop on engagement, and designed and undertook a design sprint with Colorado employees to understand engagement needs.
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Digital Service Expert User Researcher and Policy Designer
The Office of Police Oversight (OPO) is a City of Austin department that takes concerns or complaints about police misconduct, makes policy recommendations, and promotes trust between the Austinites and the Austin Police Department.
While at OPO, I introduced qualitative and quantitative best practices to OPO, including data analysis, survey design, user research, and service design practices. I also designed and facilitated synthesis research with over 500 residents for multiple projects like reimagining public safety, guided leadership on surveillance and AI technology, and led research and co-wrote reports, recommendations, analyses, and policies on issues like automatic license plate readers, body-worn cameras, and policy oversight processes.
November 2020 to December 2022
Georgetown University
December 2018 to December 2020
Office of Design and Delivery
Digital Services Researcher
Beeck Center​
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The Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation drives solution-based social change through collaboration and documents digital and innovation best practices. The Data + Digital team documents and disseminates best practices to create collaboration between digital teams across the US to create.
As a research I, collaborated with leadership at the NYC Digital Office to identify valuable work to highlight. My role involved interviewing dozens of stakeholders working on innovation and digital service teams in government. I published 3 case studies on best practices in government digital service teams and moderated a symposium on digitizing forms, and supported relationship and network building among local and state digital and innovation
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Designer and Interim Policy Lead
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The Office of Design and Delivery (ODD), a digital services and design agency, improved services and the lives of Austin residents by embedding digital and design best practices in government. In my role, I had the privilege to work independently and collaboratively on various projects. These projects, which spanned accessibility, public safety, digital transformation, public health, policing technology, and homelessness services, directly impacted the lives of Austin residents, making a tangible difference in their daily lives.
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At ODD, I planned and led user research, including one-on-one interviews with over 100 stakeholders, small group interviews composed of 2 to 4 individuals, and community workshops with over 25 attendees. Created accessibility frameworks and service and system maps, mapped ecosystems in Public Health, IT, and Public Safety, and worked with staff to identify gaps, needs, and projects. I also led projects and managed staff for projects on teleworking, Surveillance technology and human-centered policy making.
I also designed prototypes, built and tested a homelessness dashboard for Austin's City Council, and created data visualization best practices for City staff, designed and created an intake form for the Office of Sustainability to track food donations during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and created training for user research and human-centered design and identified and addressed equity issues in technology for city staff.
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November 2017 to December 2018
Innovation Office
Data Designer and User Researcher
Bloomberg funded i-team member​
Bloomberg-funded i-teams work on addressing complex problems experienced by cities across the nation. Our team worked on addressing homelessness in Central Texas. On the i-team, I worked in both a leadership and a supportive capacity.
As a part of the i-team, I served as a strategic advisor to leadership at the city, county, and nonprofits to identify gaps, needs, and priorities and build consensus for the homelessness ecosystem in Central Texas. I planned and led the data mapping with city department leadership, middle management, and front-line staff, and created data visualizations and other materials for stakeholders and residents. I also designed, led, and facilitated multiple workshops attended by 5 to 25 stakeholders to identify overlapping services, systems, funding, and data needs. Co-define challenges and ideate with stakeholders, community members, and those most impacted. Created and tested frameworks to measure the baseline of quality of life in housing, transportation, and health and the impact of service interventions. Supported user research with over 100 individuals experiencing homelessness and dozens of service providers through one-on-one interviews and small workshops. Communicated data needs to multiple audiences with varying levels of technical knowledge, breaking down complex IT information in conversations, presentations, and workshops.
August 2016 to August 2017
Austin Public Health
Open Data Project Assistant
​​Health IT
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Austin Public Health IT supports the work of multiple divisions in the department, such as Epidemiology, Community Services, Disease, and Health Prevention. As the Open Data Project Assistant, I worked on building an Open Data program for Austin Public Health.
At Health IT, I served as an advisor to the Austin Health IT team on data best practices, agile methodologies, and technology. I built relationships throughout the APH to identify the technology ecosystem and co-created an open data governance system for the department, and wrote open data policy and worked with department leadership and staff to implement technology, training, and best practices. I also engaged with interdepartmental staff to identify open data challenges and vet technology vendors using user needs.
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June 2015 to July 2016
Texas Tenants' Union
Community Organizer
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The Texas Tenants' Union (TTU) works with renters in Texas to help educate and advocate for tenants' rights.
At TTU, I coordinated with partners across the country at state and local levels to build relationships, write policy, and share data, built trust and maintained positive relationships with low-income residents that were then translated into the creation of tenants' unions, created qualitative and quantitative frameworks for assessing residents' experiences in subsidized housing, andTranslated complex federal requirements for residents, landlords, and community partners.
Education
Cornell University
Master of Arts
2014
Pacific Lutheran University
Bachelor of Arts
2011
Speaking Events
Texas Homelessness Network Conference 2024
Blending Court and Case Management Service
Georgetown University -
Impact Workshop Series 2021
Understanding Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Civic Futures Summit
2019
Making government services more accessible
Continuous Improvement Network 2022
Addressing Bias and Inequity in Technology
Beta NYC Open Data Day -
2019