Sara Mead

Sara Mead

Board Member

Managing Director, Afton Partners

As a partner with Bellwether Education Partners, Sara leads Bellwether’s early childhood work across both our policy and strategic advising teams. Since joining Bellwether in 2010, she has written and conducted policy analysis on early childhood education, charter schools, teacher quality, and state and federal education policy issues and has provided strategic advising support to foundations, advocacy organizations, and early childhood operators. Her work has been featured in media outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, and USA Today, and she is a regular contributor to U.S. News & World Report’s Knowledge Bank vertical. Before joining Bellwether, Sara directed the New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative. She has also worked for Education Sector, the Progressive Policy Institute, and the U.S. Department of Education. From September 2009-July 2017 she served on the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board, which authorizes charter schools in Washington, D.C. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Vanderbilt University.


Most Recent Posts
Public charter schools are not religious schools
In 2025, a divided U.S. Supreme Court preserved an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that blocked the application for what could have become the country’s first religious charter school, St. Isidore of Seville...
Communities want unique and innovative schools. Are authorizers ready?
By Jay Whalen From their inception, public charter schools promised to provide innovative ways to meet the students’ learning needs. At NACSA, we’re invested in helping authorizers be responsive to those needs, to ensure that...
NACSA Transition Updates
NACSA’s Board of Directors is thrilled to announce that Guerschmide Saint-Ange, NACSA’s Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed as Interim CEO following the departure of Karega Rausch. Guerschmide’s extensive leadership...