Sarah Blanch

Chief Strategy Officer

“I love our work because we ensure health, safety and equity are central to community development.”

Sarah Blanch is an accomplished public health leader and a member of IPS’ Executive Team. She manages the execution of IPS’ strategic plan as a means of expanding the organization’s ability to build partnerships that advance the health and wellness of marginalized communities at local, state, and national levels.

Ms. Blanch is deeply involved in magnifying IPS’ ability to achieve its public health and equity mission on a broader scale. She has led IPS’ multi-faceted effort to contribute to the field of public health by supporting public health professionals and advocates across the nation. This has included launching an interactive, ongoing webinar series that has attracted thousands of public health professionals nationally on topics including ACEs, equity, harm reduction, coalition building. the intersection of art and culture, youth engagement, and media advocacy. She also oversaw the launch of IPS’ national newsletter, Partners in Change “PICture This,” which is disseminated quarterly to a growing list serv of 32 public health professionals on similar topics, plus “how-tos” to simplify the operationalization of community change strategies. In her role, she helps realize IPS’ deeply-held commitment to add to the field and support the advancement of wellbeing throughout the nation.

She is a regular presenter at national public health forums including the Alcohol Policy and National Prevention Network conferences.

Sarah is currently engaged in expanding the use of IPS’ Approach to Community Transformation (ACT) Model into other vital areas of public health, including climate change, social justice, tobacco prevention, and the revitalization of green spaces.

Prior to her role as Chief Strategy Officer, for five years, Sarah led the LA County programs as Regional Director, where she oversaw all IPS’ LA County-based prevention campaigns that integrated quantitative and qualitative assessment, media, coalition building, and policy advocacy across LA City and County. She was an original member of the California Alcohol Policy Alliance and served as Chair of the Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance for two years. In 2018, she was named ‘Prevention Provider of the Year’ by the California Alcohol Policy Alliance.

Sarah has a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University.