Sarah Bounse, MPH, is a Program Officer at the de Beaumont Foundation. She manages a portfolio of public health programs, projects, and grants focused on strengthening partnerships, improving communications, and advancing policies to support health and equity.
Prior to joining the de Beaumont Foundation, Sarah was the Director of Local Capacity Building at the Tennessee Department of Health, where she supported local health council members and local health department staff in developing the knowledge and skills needed to address their communities’ health challenges. She also worked as an independent consultant alongside grassroots organizations and nonprofits to develop and implement anti-racist and equitable services, policies, and practices towards organizational transformation. Sarah has served as the Program Manager at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Office of Health Equity, where she developed and led educational initiatives on health equity for medical students, staff, faculty, and leadership. She got her start in organizational change work as the Health Equity Coordinator with the Metro Nashville Public Health Department, leading and facilitating efforts to embed health equity within a local health department through trainings, policy and infrastructure changes, assessments, and community engagement. Sarah began her career as a health educator at the Knox County Health Department, focused on supporting and building community power in a specific neighborhood in Knox County, Tennessee, that had been deeply impacted by systemic and structural racial and health inequities.
Sarah holds a Master’s of Public Health in Health Behavior and Health Services Management from the University of Kentucky and a Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of Tennessee.