Sarah L. Young, 
Ph.D., M.B.A.

Dr. Sarah L. Young, Professor of Public Administration at Kennesaw State University, serves as the Director of Research for CARE Services, a campus support program for students who experienced foster care or homelessness. Her research uses systems-based approaches to study the intersection of nonprofit management, health and human service delivery, and equity, especially during periods of crisis.

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Dr. Young earned her Ph.D. from Florida State University’s Askew School of Public Administration and Policy and her M.B.A. in nonprofit management from the University of Tampa Sykes College of Business. She is the co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Affairs Education and on the Teaching Public Administration editorial board. Dr. Young’s research is published in Public Administration, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Quarterly, American Review of Public Administration, and other leading academic journals. She has co-authored three books, Mentorship in Higher Education, Social Equity and Public Management Theory: A Global Outlook, and Turn Personal Passion into Action: A Roadmap to Community Development and Social Change (due out in 2025). Dr. Young has accrued ~$2.0 million in funded grants and routinely serves as a subject matter expert in national and international news outlets like Inside Higher Ed, Nonprofit Quarterly, Medium.com, and the London School of Economics Policy and Politics column, among others. 

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Dr. Young has won multiple awards for her leadership and scholarship. In 2021, her article “Erased: Why Faculty Sexual Misconduct is Prevalent and How We Could Prevent It” catalyzed a movement uniting 15 leading academic journals, multiple academic associations, and numerous higher ed institutions in addressing faculty sexual misconduct. For this work, Dr. Young won the university’s leadership award in 2021 and the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration – Journal of Public Affairs Education Outstanding Article of the Year award in 2022. Also, in 2022, Dr. Young and her co-authors won the American Society of Public Administration’s Best Nonprofit Paper of the Year award for their paper “Resiliency Tactics during Financial Crisis: The Nonprofit Resiliency Framework.” In 2024, she was honored to be recognized as a top researcher at Kennesaw State University.