Sarah Berger Sandelius

Sarah Sandelius is a lawyer with more than fifteen years of experience implementing strategy and policy on behalf of our nation’s youth. Her work connects policy, process and performance to create strong systems that produce positive academic outcomes and students prepared for post-graduation life. In founding The Ability Challenge, Sarah seeks to offer partnership and support to schools and districts working to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities. Sarah also founded and runs FlipTurn Education Consulting, partnering with schools and organizations around the country on strategic operations and policy projects focused on improving student outcomes. She has received many accolades for her recent work with ABC, including being selected as an entrepreneur with Cambiar Education, for the SEED SPOT’s 2020 Impact Accelerator, and for a 4.0 Schools Essential Fellowship.

Sarah spent most of her career at the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE), serving as Executive Director of Policy and Student Advocacy for NYC DOE’s alternative schools district and then as Senior Counsel for Litigation and Policy. In those roles she ran special education across 10 alternative programs, managed the Litigation Implementation Unit that successfully ended several long-running class action settlements, and created systems that helped move the City’s 1,700 schools toward providing more equitable educational opportunities for all learners. She received her B.A. from Cornell University and her J.D. from the University of Virginia. She also teaches Education Law and Policy at American University in Washington, DC.