Cámara de Representantes del los Estados UnidosCandidato para Distrito 49

Sara Jacobs has dedicated her career to fighting for a fairer, more equitable world and finding innovative solutions to some of the most complex problems facing the most vulnerable people -- at home and around the world. She’s running for Congress to bring a fresh approach to government, and close the opportunity gaps that exist in Southern California and across our nation. 

An experienced policy-maker, Sara has served in key policy positions at the U.S. State Department under the Obama Administration, UNICEF, and the United Nations. She was also proud to use her expertise to serve as a foreign policy advisor to Secretary Hillary Clinton during her 2016 campaign for president. 

At the State Department, Sara worked on U.S. policy towards conflict zones in East and West Africa, led an effort to re-think how the U.S. Government counters and prevents violent extremism, and helped spearhead President Obama’s efforts to improve governance in the security sector of our counterterrorism partners. As part of this work, she helped lead strategy and contingency planning aimed at countering Boko Haram in the midst of the kidnapping of Chibok schoolgirls. 

At the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Sara worked to bring stakeholders together to develop guidelines for promoting peaceful and credible elections. And at UNICEF, Sara developed a strategy that allows the organization to leverage large amounts of data to navigate development and humanitarian challenges, building a data-science team that still operates today and has been effective in assisting UNICEF’s response to the Ebola and Zika outbreaks. 

Sara strongly believes in harnessing the power of technology to solve big problems. That’s why Sara recently directed a non-profit organization called Project Connect, which is dedicated to closing the opportunity gap for students around the world. Sara and her team worked to map every school in the world, and eventually connect them all to the Internet — giving every child on the planet equal access to information and the tools they need to succeed. 

Born in Del Mar, Sara grew up in California’s 49th Congressional District. She is a product of Del Mar public schools, and a proud graduate of Torrey Pines High School. Sara also holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations and Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University. 

Today, Sara lives in Encinitas, right around the corner from her parents, grandparents, siblings, and many aunts and uncles.

Our economy is changing incredibly rapidly, yet an unfair system means that regular people are falling behind faster and faster, while the rich just keep getting richer. Either we’re going to see this opportunity gap get exponentially worse, or we’re going to figure out how to use the power of technology to close it. 

What’s just as concerning is that our leaders in office are totally unequipped to deal with that reality. Today, even in this district, families who consider themselves to be middle class are having a really tough time keeping up with the costs of housing and health care and college.  But instead of finding meaningful solutions to help, leaders like Donald Trump and Darrell Issa are enriching themselves at the expense of everyone else. It’s time for some fresh, new thinking in Washington – that’s why I’m running.

To me, the best part of Southern California is the people who live here - innovators who are developing cutting edge medical treatments, inventing new products, and starting businesses that change the way people live. Growing up in Del Mar, I saw firsthand what is possible if we look at problems in new ways and focus on coming up with fresh, creative solutions. 

Throughout my career, I’ve always tried to use the opportunity and perspective I was given to find places where I could have the most impact. My approach is to seek out the really tough problems, understand as much as I can about those problems from people with different perspectives, and bring the right groups of people together to fix them. I did that at the State Department under President Obama, in my work with the United Nations, and with my non-profit work to improve education around the world. And it’s what I plan to do in Congress.