Sarah Haight

Director, 2Gen Practice

Sarah Haight is Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s director of 2Gen practice. Sarah works with a national network of more than 500 leaders and organizations who are exploring, incubating, or implementing 2Gen approaches, which provide opportunities for and meet the needs of children and the adults in their lives together. She also manages key convenings and grantmaking strategies to ensure a legacy of educational success, economic security, and health and well-being passes from one generation to the next.

Sarah’s career focuses on economic inclusion and supporting practitioners to translate their work with families to influence policy and systems change. Since joining Ascend in 2011, she has managed technical assistance to the Ascend Network, comprised of 500+ practitioners, policymakers, and researchers focused on 2Gen approaches; managed the Aspen ThinkXChange, the national forum on 2Gen solutions; the Aspen Forum on Children and Families, Ascend’s largest public convening; and grantmaking and innovation community strategies, including the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community. She partners across Ascend to develop and package tools and resources to equip organizations and leaders to better serve families with low incomes. 

Prior to joining Ascend, Sarah worked as an editor and journalist at Conde Nast in New York City. She earned her Master of Social Work degree from the Silver School of Social Work at New York University and has worked as a therapist in direct-practice clinical settings with women with low incomes, with a focus on maternal mental health. She is licensed to practice social work in New York and the District of Columbia.

Favorite Part of my Role

I love working directly with ‘frontline staff’ and the families they serve – parents really are the experts on their own lives, and I am always humbled and inspired by the enterprising ideas they have to strengthen their own communities.

Stories featuring Sarah Haight

Here are a few key insights of our team’s place-based efforts in New Mexico and Los Angeles County that harness the power of the 2Gen field. 
Ascend NetworkJanuary 17, 2024
The Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community Phase II sought to find and foster the most effective and innovative strategies to accelerate social ...
Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation CommunityMay 3, 2023
Ascend at the Aspen Institute builds intergenerational family prosperity and well-being for children and the adults in their lives through a two-gener...
Ascend NetworkApril 27, 2023
In episode 14 of the City of Kalamazoo's Shared Prosperity podcast, Ascend's Sarah Haight sits down with Kevin Ford, the city's Shared Prosperity Kala...
Media MentionsMay 2, 2022
Intake forms are important because you never get a second chance to make a first impression. I'm heartened by Ascend Network partners' efforts to simp...
Ascend NetworkApril 28, 2022
For many of us with young children at home, the pandemic hasn’t just disrupted our lives — it’s turned them upside down, erasing the boundaries ...
Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation CommunityFebruary 21, 2022
Ascend is pleased to announce the six winning organizations of the 2Gen Level Up Competition & Prize. In October, as part of 2Gen Level ...
BlogJanuary 25, 2021
This fall, Ascend at the Aspen Institute launched the Parents’ Voices 2020 Project, the next step in our longstanding effort to cut through the nati...
BlogDecember 1, 2020
Social capital is the “secret sauce” of the two-generation (2Gen) approach. It manifests itself as increased peer support and a sense of community...
BlogNovember 10, 2020
Earlier this year, Ascend launched the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community, our initiative for breakthrough innovations and collaborations th...
BlogNovember 9, 2020
After a dynamic week of engaging conversations with our Network Partners, Fellows, field, and families, one thing is clear: The #2Gen field is strong....
BlogOctober 30, 2020
familyphoto
Our world has changed. The wave of uncertainty touched off by the pandemic is becoming an ongoing process of relearning how to live, work and care for...
BlogJuly 28, 2020
Smiling Family With Parents Giving Children Piggyback Rides In Garden At Home
Contact: Lindsay Broyhill Ascend at the Aspen Institute lindsay.broyhill@aspeninstitute.org  Bold Leaders to Advance Innovative Strateg...
BlogJuly 22, 2020
Aspen
States and communities are where policy translates into real life outcomes. For nearly a decade, state and local entities have leveraged various ...
BlogJuly 9, 2020
Family
The last few weeks and months have been profoundly challenging, and illuminated clearly the need for a sea change in the way our country engages with ...
BlogJune 16, 2020

Convenings Featuring Sarah Haight

Location: Virtual & In-Person in Washington, DC
Over the course of two days, our discussions focused on bold, equitable, and pragmatic strategies for building prosperity and well-being for all families. Sessions include insights from the latest two-generation (2Gen) family data, examples of...
ConveningApril 11, 2023 – April 12, 2023
Location: Virtual
Are you a healthcare provider or administrator who believes we must do more upstream to alleviate economic strain for our patient families to improve medical outcomes? Join us to learn how....
ConveningJuly 19, 2023
Location: Virtual
Please join us for a national briefing on a new, groundbreaking two-generation analysis of families with low incomes across the US. This new comparative analysis of 2011 and 2021 Census data, looking at children and the adults in their lives...
ConveningMarch 2, 2023
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Dr. Rohini Anand’s book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations, offers five proven principles for organizations to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion with a nuanced...
ConveningJanuary 27, 2022
Location: Virtual
On Tuesday, June 1st, 2021, Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s Family Prosperity Innovation Community hosted a panel discussion about the recently proposed federal legislation on paid leave. This webinar presented how and why this proposed legislation...
ConveningJune 1, 2021