Cambridge, Mass.-- 2011 Lesley University graduate and member of the women's soccer, Sarah Groh, has made her way from advising as a volunteer to Chief of Staff for then Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley during the Democratic Primary against veteran Massachusetts ongressman Michael Capuano.
At Lesley, Sarah found opportunities to try out different roles and make an impact, from internships that bridged the space between politics, government and the non-profit world to grassroots organizing and political protests. "My time at Lesley defined so many things for me. Being on that campus and being in Cambridge and Boston opened my eyes to so much meaningful work and equipped me with a framework to address the social injustices that I felt passionately about. I was fortunate to have really good mentors while I was there—Robin Roth and Alice Diamond come to mind right away. I also had such a great community around me—friends that I traveled to El Salvador with, and the soccer team. That team continues to have my back in all kinds of ways. When my mom was going through cancer treatment they all showed up to see if they were a stem cell match for her. Coach (head coach Paul Vasconcelos) still texts me from time to time to check in."
After getting her Master's degree in Education Policy & Management from Harvard, Sarah spent several years in Boston doing policy and advocacy work for the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange, America Forward, and the non-profit Horizons for Homeless Children. She was already intrigued by then-City Councilor Pressley. "I thought she was doing such meaningful work and I kept bumping to her—often in spaces where other politicians weren't."