Sara Shanley joined KPI this past April as the Program Manager in Rwanda. As Program Manager, Sara is responsible for day to day operations of the Let’s Play Fair program including managing and training staff, curriculum design, program evaluation and partnership development.
Before joining KPI, Sara was the Soccer for Success Program Director for the Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club. In this role, Sara launched Soccer for Success (a sport for social change, childhood obesity prevention program) for the first time in Denver with just over 700 children and in two and a half years she increased the size of the program to 2,200. As Program Director, Sara fundraised, managed two full time staff and 200 part-time coaches and provided oversight and guidance for the future of Soccer for Success in Colorado.
In addition to working with the Rapids, Sara was a member of the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s National Soccer for Success training team from May 2012 until April 2015. In this role Sara trained other operators and coaches around the country how to run Soccer for Success.
Sara received her M.A. in International Studies from American University where she studied the effect of sport on girls’ self-efficacy in Kenya. Sara holds U.S. Youth Soccer Youth Licenses as well as NSCAA Licenses. Sara received her B.A. in International Relations from Virginia Commonwealth University.