Bio

Sarah Hillware Spannring is a social impact leader with 17 years of experience guiding multi-country strategy, partnerships, and delivery across complex global health and mission-driven systems. She works at the intersection of government, philanthropy, impact investment, multilateral institutions, and business to build cross-sector coalitions and translate global priorities into effective country-level action in politically and resource-constrained environments.

She has operated at senior, director and executive-level, with responsibility for country engagement, portfolio-level decisions, and high-stakes stakeholder relationships across governments, multilaterals, donors, and implementing partners. She has overseen large, multi-sector portfolios, including global funds and country programs totaling nearly US$3 billion across 40+ countries.

Sarah has held senior and leadership roles with the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and Women in Global Health, and has worked across the UN system, international NGOs, and the private sector. Her experience spans global policy environments, organizational governance, and on-the-ground delivery, giving her a pragmatic perspective on how to build bridges across sectors and transform systems.

In parallel, Sarah is a two-time founder and former Executive Director of Girls Health Ed, a global nonprofit advancing health and sexuality education for girls and young women. She later served as Board Chair, providing strategic and governance oversight during a period of growth and transition. Sarah also previously co-founded an early-stage digital health startup focused on developing a mobile application.

Sarah is recognized by Apolitical as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in her sector and has delivered two TEDx talks. She speaks and advises on social impact, leadership, gender, global health, governance, and systems change, bringing a candid and practical perspective shaped by experience across institutions, sectors, and levels of decision-making.

She holds a degree in International Affairs and Global Public Health from The George Washington University, as well as a Certificate in Behavioral Economics, Negotiation and Decision-Making from Harvard Business School. She is in the final stages of completing an Executive Master’s degree at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School, focused on senior leadership and strategy in complex global systems.

Outside of her professional work, Sarah is a mother to a son.