sarah bell

Chief of Industry Exposure and Experience

YouthForce NOLA

Growing up in a multi-racial family in rural Pennsylvania, I was not always accepted in certain spaces but my parents instilled in me the value of always leaving a place better than I found it.

During my college career at The Pennsylvania State University, both of my parents passed away unexpectedly. I used those losses as inspiration to lean into that value. I joined both the Black Caucus and the University Park Allocation Committee to bridge the divide between social justice and financial resources. I participated in protesting the harassment and threats against black students and brought significant changes to the University’s diversity initiatives. I also worked alongside mostly white counterparts to fund an expanded slate of student organizations chartered to raise awareness and create safe spaces for marginalized communities. While there was (and is) much more to improve, I graduated knowing that I was leaving the school better than I found it.

From 2004 to 2005, I volunteered in Atlanta, Georgia with the organization Mission Year. Being out of my comfort zone I leaned into new relationships to find connectivity and purpose. After a year of serving and internalizing the value of community building, I was asked to join the Mission Year staff. One month later I watched, with the rest of the county, as Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Greater New Orleans region. Within 2 weeks I was leading a group of volunteers in Atlanta as we set up a center for evacuees with nowhere else to go. That experience inspired me and my husband to make a long-term commitment to New Orleans and in 2006 we moved to New Orleans to build our life.

After nearly a decade, I happily accepted a position with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) as they built the New Orleans Jazz Market in my Central City New Orleans neighborhood. Never did I imagine that I would end my tenure there as the President and CEO. Though my promotion came as the result of an unexpected downfall, I was honored to be entrusted with such a responsibility. When I handed the reins to my successor I left confident that I had provided the leadership and foundational work needed in a time of crisis and was, in fact, leaving NOJO better than I had found it.

As I now continue my professional journey into my 5th year at YouthForce NOLA, I am proud of my growth in this sector and the platform that I have been given to move the needle toward improved options for economic mobility for young people.

Though I am immensely proud of my professional accomplishments, I am most proud of the young adults that my three children (12, 14, & 16) are becoming. Raising them in times marked with political vitriol, civil unrest, school shootings, unfettered climate change, and a pandemic has been challenging at best. And yet, they are kind and caring, unafraid to ask for what they deserve, unwilling to acquiesce to rules without rationale. They see themselves as a part of a global community in ways I never thought possible at their age and they are finding ways to amplify their voices in the pursuit of justice and equality. They require the biggest investment of my time and talent but parenting them well will ensure that I leave this world better than I found it - and for that, I am most proud.