Principal, 127 Global Strategies

Sarah Gesiriech is Principal of 127 Global Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in public policy and government relations with a primary focus on domestic and international child and family protection and education policy. Prior to creating 127 Global Strategies, she served as Education Advisor to the Office of the First Lady at the U.S. Department of Education, acting as senior advisor and primary liaison for domestic and international education policy issues and events. In this role, she also led efforts to promote the Helping America’s Youth initiative dedicated to connecting caring adults with youth. She was also Director of the Department’s International Affairs Office.

Ms. Gesiriech has worked in the field of child and family protection for more than 15 years. She was a member of the White House Domestic Policy Council, informing child protection policy and program decisions, including child welfare, missing and exploited children and domestic and international adoption policy.  She also served in the Deputy Secretary's Office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), assisting the Secretary and Deputy Secretary in policy development, oversight and approval of Department regulations for priority areas including child and family services, youth development, international HIV/AIDS and trafficking in persons.

In addition to her executive branch experiences, Ms. Gesiriech worked on Capitol Hill as a senior advisor to U.S. Senator Charles Grassley on child welfare and adoption, health care and foreign affairs policy. She advised Senator Grassley on drafting and authoring significant sections of the bipartisan Adoption and Safe Families Act (P.L. 105-89), a landmark piece of child welfare and protection legislation. As senior staff on the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, she contributed to the development and release of Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence and Well-Being for Children in Foster Care, an innovative and viable set of policy proposals to improve the U.S foster care system.  She also co-created A Child’s Journey Through the Child Welfare System, a web-based narrative and interactive model that describes the typical progression a child makes through foster care. As Associate Director for Grants/Communications at the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, she administered foundation giving and policy development.

Ms. Gesiriech earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.