Sarah Rand

Sarah Rand is the Director of Public Affairs for the Crime Lab and Education Lab. In this role, she works to advance awareness of key research insights, highlight evidence-based solutions, and engage with partners and stakeholders. Her aim is to deepen the public’s understanding of evidenced-based approaches to advancing educational outcomes and enhancing public safety for all.

Previously, Sarah was the Marketing and Communications Manager for the Social and Economic Policy division at Abt Associates. In this role, she supported Abt’s mission to make research relevant and accessible to practitioners, policymakers, and the public through a variety of strategies including videos, public events, blogging, workshops, presentations, data visualization, and innovative reporting techniques. Sarah’s portfolio of work included education, the workforce and apprenticeships, housing and asset building, early childhood, career pathways, and child and family well-being.

From 2014 to 2022, Sarah was a Senior Communications Specialist at the American Institutes for Research. At AIR, she led the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest communication and engagement efforts, managed video production, collaborated with public television stations to produce documentaries, and hosted documentary screenings and workshops. Sarah was also the project director and communications lead for AIR’s National Survey of Public Education’s Response to COVID-19 and led communications efforts for AIR’s Center for Applied Research in Postsecondary Education.

At Outlier Research & Evaluation at the University of Chicago, Sarah led communications and was an Associate Project Director for research studies focused on STEM education. At the beginning of her career, Sarah taught elementary science in Washington state.

Sarah received a Master of Arts in learning sciences from the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, a certificate in environmental education from the Teton Science Schools in Jackson, Wyoming, and a BA in biology from Carleton College.