Sarah Bauder is a distinguished leader in higher education training, transformation, and innovation, with extensive experience in driving student success and access. During her 24-year tenure at the University of Maryland, College Park, she championed programs for marginalized students and advocated for higher education reform through Congressional testimony.

Later, as a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she managed a multi-billion dollar scholarship program and launched an additional billion-dollar initiative to support students, leveraging data and technology to improve educational outcomes. As Chief Transformation Officer for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), she led a system-wide overhaul focused on financial viability, streamlined operations, and the strategic integration of technology and data to enhance the student experience and institutional effectiveness.

Now serving as Deputy Program Manager for Mantech ACTP, Sarah is instrumental in developing the vision for growth and long-term value generation for the program.