Sarah Yagoda joined Meridian in October 2015 and currently serves as Director of Program Finance, acting as a conduit between the Finance and various program implementation departments in areas such as level of effort analysis, financial training, policies and procedures formation, and quarterly reporting. Prior to this role, Sarah worked as part of the Meridian Center for Global Leadership (MCGL) in two roles, most recently as Director of Administration for 2 years, where she collaborated with departments across the organization to streamline processes, procedures, and internal communications related to IT, finance, hiring and onboarding, and staff training. Prior to that, Sarah was an MCGL Program Officer for 6 years, developing and managing in-person and online professional exchange programs, training programs, and conferences.

Prior to joining Meridian, Sarah worked as a Program Officer with the WASHplus Project at FHI 360, where she provided support to water, sanitation, hygiene, and household air pollution projects across Africa and South Asia. Sarah has a wide range of experience in the international development and education sectors, including serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the microfinance organization Accion USA, teaching English through WorldTeach in China, and organizing a multilateral conference on climate change with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Chile.

Sarah has a dual Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts in International Relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Spanish from The University of Georgia. She possesses a Level II certification in Project Management in Development (PMD Pro) and speaks Spanish, Mandarin, French, and basic Portuguese.