Sarah Schacht

Sarah Schacht has over 15 years of experience in a wide range of open data and public interest technology topics. Her work as a practitioner ranges from data standards development (authoring LIVES 2.0 and SAFE 1.0), public and environmental health open data, community engagement, legislation access and transparency, and government website usability. As a social entrepreneur, she founded and led an “open gov” 501(c)3 nonprofit, Knowledge As Power (2006-2012). From 2014 to present, Schacht is a consultant at Smarter Civic consulting, advising “civic tech” startups, federal agencies, and civil society organizations. Schacht is a frequent advisor to governments ranging from small-town mayors to presidential staff. She is passionate about transparency, data standards, citizen engagement, democratic governance, and workforce pipeline development in the government technology workforce. As a Beeck Center Fellow, Schacht’s work focused on developing a robust and sustainable public interest technology workforce. In 2023, she completed designing and teaching the first certificate program for congressional staff, focusing on open data and information resources, Data Skills for Congress.