Sarah Phillips is an experienced policy strategist with expertise in legislative relations, policy analysis, and coalition-building. As Associate Director of Public Policy at The Carter Center Mental Health and Caregiver Program, she leads a team focused on behavioral health parity implementation across multiple states, payment for youth mental health services, mental health for older adults, supports for family caregivers, and the decriminalization of mental illness and substance use disorders.

Much of Sarah's career has centered on the intersection of health access and financial protection. At Georgia Health Initiative, she served as Director of Policy Strategies, designing and implementing strategies to advance health equity statewide. As Senior Manager of Policy & Advocacy at Georgia Watch — the state's leading consumer advocacy organization — she identified disparate impacts on historically marginalized populations and guided the development of equitable policies to address them. Earlier in her career, she worked at the Georgia State Capitol, building legislative relationships, researching and analyzing proposed legislation, and tracking policy priorities.

Sarah graduated with honors from Georgia State University with degrees in Political Science and Public Policy, and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation.