Sara Hudson

Writer, Researcher, Strategist, 2020-2021 Berggruen Fellow

Dr. Sara Hudson is a writer, researcher, and senior strategist advising philanthropic and civil organizations to solve complex civic challenges faced by communities historically ignored, overlooked, or made invisible. Her work elevates individual lives and opportunities while addressing systemic breakdowns. She has a PhD in American Studies from Yale University. She examined the collection, preservation, and erasure of BIPOC and immigrant women and children in archives and information systems used to build histories, craft stories, and enable economic enfranchisement. In post-Katrina New Orleans, she created NOLA Ready, the city’s still-used crisis communications systems to ensure multilingual, accurate, transparent, and equitable access to life-saving information. A FEMA-trained emergency responder, she led New Orleans’ real-time communications during hurricanes, flooding, bomb threats, the Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, and other planned and unplanned challenges. She is the former Director of Digital Communications at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Department of Justice Digital Innovation Fellow, and a civic philanthropy advisor. At Berggruen, she will partner with Lenny Mendonca and Laura D’Andrea Tyson on the forthcoming book The New Age of Progressive Federalism.