Senior Director of Research, Policy, and Asset-Building Programs

As the senior director of research, policy, and asset-building programs, Sarah Dewees is responsible for the coordination of all research, policy, and evaluation activities at First Nations to further our understanding of asset-based community development in Native American communities.

Sarah joined First Nations in 2002 after serving as a research project manager at the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She worked at the Rural Policy Research Institute on issues related to rural development and welfare reform. Sarah has worked in both applied and academic research settings, and has conducted research on a range of issues including rural community economic development, rural education, rural transportation, local economic development policy, and welfare reform. Her publications have appeared in the Journal of the Community Development Society, Rural Sociology, and Sociological Practice, and she has taught at the University of Kentucky and Towson University.

Sarah received her Ph.D. in rural sociology from the University of Kentucky in 1998, an M.A. in sociology from Ohio University in 1992, and a B.A. in government from Oberlin College in 1990.