The NEA Foundation
Sara Sneed
Sara A. Sneed will be the new president and CEO of the NEA Foundation, an educator-founded public charity whose mission is to improve public education for all students. Arriving after nearly 20 years of work at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Sneed is a nationally-recognized proponent and leader of public education improvement.
Her time at the Hartford Foundation began in 2000 when she was brought on as a senior program officer, a position which saw her developing grantmaking strategies and relationships with community and corporate leaders. She would serve in this capacity for about 12 years before being promoted to director of education investments. Throughout her career at the Hartford Foundation, Sneed helped bring real and tangible change to teaching and learning in Connecticut. Grantmaking she led resulted in new infrastructure in the form of offices and community buildings for family and community engagement strategies as well as new community schools themselves for direct education of Connecticut’s youth.
Sneed has worked most of her career in the nonprofit sector, having been with the Foundation for the Mid South and the Medical Foundation in the years before her long stint at the Hartford Foundation. At the Foundation for the Mid South she served as a senior program manager in charge of the Families and Children, Public Policy, and leadership development programs. Her time at the Medical Foundation in Boston was spent as director of maternal and child health, heading a significant expansion of public health partnerships and initiatives.
With her career always dedicated to helping children and youth in need, Sneed also worked in the public sector for some time, serving as special projects manager with the Massachusetts Department of Social Services. She began her career, however, in the nonprofit sector where she would ultimately spend the vast majority of it. Sneed’s first permanent job was as director of the Southern New England Network for Black Families and Children, an initiative started by the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. Immediately before this, she was hired directly out of college as an area manager of the Roxbury, Massachusetts Office for Children.
As a prominent leader in the sector, Sneed has served in the several leadership roles throughout her career. She is currently the Vice Chair of the Board of the Institute for Educational Leadership and is part of the Grantmakers for Education Equity Impact Group. She is a former executive board member of Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families and served as co-chair of the Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth (CFLeads).
“Sara is exactly the right person to build on the NEA Foundation’s many accomplishments and to enhance the depth, scope, and impact of our work,” said Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, chair of the NEA Foundation Board of Directors in a press release about the appointment. “Her extensive experience and expertise in education policy and strategy and her demonstrated success in advancing education equity and leading cross-sector collaborations make her a valuable find. Sara will ensure that the NEA Foundation continues to provide educators, their schools, and districts with resources and tools they need to do their best work.”
Sara A. Sneed officially succeeds Harriet Sanford as president and CEO of the NEA Foundation on Mar. 1, 2019 as the organization nears the 50th anniversary of its founding.
