Milk Bank Staff – Introducing Sarah Moore

Tell us about your professional background  

During my summers at Harvard Law School and after graduating, I worked in Boston and Paris on mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance, and intellectual property. While I loved the intellectual aspects of practicing law, I felt like I was living my life from the shoulders up. I wasn’t integrating my whole self into my work. I became curious about how I might approach work and life more holistically and how I could help others do this as well. These questions and more led me back to school. 

I attended Harvard Divinity school (HDS) to explore such questions in the Master of Theological Studies program. One of my most formative experiences was creating “The Faith Café,” where I led small groups of students from diverse backgrounds to identify what we loved and were impassioned by and then to determine how we might weave these elements into our day to day lives. We were guided by the words of Rumi, “Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you truly love. “  

While at HDS and in the years following, I studied community organizing, public narrative, and moral leadership with Marshall Ganz at Harvard Kennedy School. I was curious how to support broader movements that help individuals live more personally fulfilling and socially enriching lives. I went on to use the skills I gained to train and coach leaders of social-action campaigns and to coach individuals.   

What led you to our milk bank?  

I had been living in Costa Rica for a year and half with my husband and son. I was working independently as a leadership and life coach. When we returned to Massachusetts and firmly planted our roots back here, I knew I wanted to join a team. I was specifically looking for an organization where I could use both my legal background and my experience building community and supporting people in their work lives.

When I heard about the position at Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, I was excited because I knew about your professional background [Deborah Youngblood, Executive Director] and knew we shared values around women’s empowerment and health. And the mission of the organization spoke to me. I had had challenges of my own when I was nursing my son and I wished donor milk was available for us and would have loved to donate as well. Helping families with babies with medical needs motivates me every day.  

How have you been contributing to the milk bank thus far? 

I love my job. Every day is different. As the head of people and culture, I get to think about the big picture of the organization and every individual within it. I ask the broad sweeping questions like, “What is our wild dream? Who do we want to become as an organization?” And then I get to ask each member of our milk bank, “What motivates you, what are you passionate about and how can I help nurture those areas so that you can grow and learn and teach?” 

I’m researching best practices in human-focused organizations that prioritize empowering employees. And then I also get into the nitty gritty of making sure we have fair policies, excellent benefits, and a collaborative workplace.  

I’m using my legal background both to support human resources and to make sure that our contractual relationships with our hospitals and partners are clear, consistent, and solid.  

The fact that I’m doing all this in service of a place that supports families and babies, that makes all the difference today. And I have an eye on the future, excited to support efforts to connect the rich experience of helping to develop and run this milk bank with the cutting-edge research, technology, and healthcare systems in our Greater Boston backyard and beyond, so we can grow and deepen our impact. 

Tell us about your life outside of work 

I have a 12-year-old son, Sebastian, at home. I’ve been lucky to spend a ton of time with him as he’s been growing up. We play a lot of Dungeons and Dragons, a game I love for its strategy, creativity, and storytelling. 

I’ve been slowly learning Chinese (Mandarin) and while it’s very challenging, I enjoy expanding myself in this way. Together with my husband and son we are all studying the Tao Te Ching with my Mandarin teacher and trying to apply its philosophy of simplicity, patience, and compassion. I hope that we can all visit China in the not-too-distant future. 

And then when I really need to relax – I read junk books by the community pool.  

(And I, the interviewer, say thank heavens that she has at least one simple pleasure I can relate with!)