Sarah N. Usdin

Sarah Newell Usdin was elected to the Orleans Parish School Board in November 2012. She is the Founder and past- CEO of New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO). In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sarah formed NSNO to support and develop the people, resources, and environment necessary to achieve excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans.

In 1992, after teaching in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, she joined Teach For America and taught 5th grade for three years in Baton Rouge before becoming Teach for America’s Executive Director in Louisiana. She went on to serve as a partner with The New Teacher Project (TNTP), working to recruit, train, and alternatively certify thousands of high-quality public school teachers.

Sarah majored in religion and German at Colgate University. She holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Louisiana State University. Sarah was a 2008 Aspen-NewSchools Education Fellow and currently serves as a moderator for the program. She is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and was a recipient of The Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership.