Ladies in the News Honoree
Sarah Roberts serves as Vice President of Programs at Inasmuch Foundation where she has been employed for over 20 years. The Foundation was founded by Edith Kinney Gaylord in 1982 and provides grants to enrich the quality of life and strengthen organizations to benefit people and communities. Inasmuch Foundation’s grantmaking approach focuses on partnership and collaboration to inspire lasting change in Oklahoma City by focusing on these specific areas: community and civic engagement, journalism, education and human services. The Foundation has placed emphasis on forging public/private partnerships to fund evidence-based interventions for vulnerable children and families as well as attracting much needed federal investments to Oklahoma City. Examples of a few successful public/private partnerships are Community CARES Partners, Key to Home, Metafund Impact Accelerator, Oklahoma City Educare, Oklahoma Clearinghouse for Early Childhood Success, and ReMerge.
Sarah previously served as Chairman of the Board of ReMerge and Sunbeam Family Services. She co-chaired the ReMerge and Center for Nonprofits capital campaigns where she assisted in raising over $20 million and acquiring two allocations of new market tax credits. Sarah was appointed by Governors Mary Fallin and Kevin Stitt to serve as Chair of the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Board of Directors. Sarah was also appointed by Mayor David Holt to serve on the MAPS 4 Neighborhoods Subcommittee. Additionally, Sarah serves on the Board of Directors for: City Rescue Mission, Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, and United Way of Central Oklahoma. Sarah previously served on the following Boards: Community Action Agency, Integris Center for Mind, Body & Spirit, Oklahoma City Metro Literacy Coalition, Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, Police Athletic League, ReMerge, Sunbeam Family Services, and Wes Welker Foundation. Sarah is a 2016 graduate of SALLT, Class 8 (Salt and Light Leadership Training) and a 2019 graduate of Leadership Oklahoma, Class 32. In 2008, Sarah was recognized by OKCBusiness as a recipient of the Forty under 40 Award. In 2020, Sarah was recognized by Pivot as their Advocate of the Year for building collaborative efforts to address youth homelessness in Oklahoma City. In 2022, Sarah was recognized with the Prism Award for her early childhood work by Rainbow Fleet and the President’s Award at the Oklahoma Center of Nonprofits Visions Awards, which honors those who act as agents of change in the community, providing leadership to enrich and enliven those whom they serve.
Sarah was previously an instructor with the Clarksville Montgomery County School System in Tennessee where she taught 5th grade. Sarah is a graduate of Bishop McGuinness High School (1992) in Oklahoma City and Sweet Briar College (1996) in Virginia where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Government with a teaching certificate. Sarah has been married to Hayden Roberts for more than 24 years. Hayden works for Oklahoma State University. They live in Oklahoma City and have two sons, Jackson who is 20 years old and Owen who is 14 years old.