Dr. Sarah Bennison is an educator, scholar, activist, service learning consultant, and social entrepreneur whose life's work sits at a powerful intersection: where rigorous scholarship meets urgent social need, and where educational institutions become genuine engines of change. A faculty member at New York University — where she was nominated for the 2024–2025 Steinhardt Teaching Excellence Award — Dr. Bennison teaches and researches at the intersection of curriculum, educational institutions, and social impact.

She is the founder and creator of the Trinity School (NYC) Office of Public Service, an innovative K–12 service learning initiative that integrates community engagement into the heart of school culture. She is also co-founder and CEO of The Mattering Movement, a nonprofit dedicated to building educational environments where every student and community member experiences genuine belonging and purpose.

As a consultant, Dr. Bennison partners with schools and institutions to design service learning frameworks and transform organizational cultures. As a speaker, she inspires audiences across education, nonprofit, and social impact sectors with a message that is both intellectually rigorous and deeply human. Dr. Bennison's approach to education is rooted in a simple but radical belief: that schools are not just places where students prepare for the world — they are places where students begin to change it. This conviction has driven her most significant work as an institution-builder and innovator.

Dr. Bennison holds a Ph.D. from NYU; an M.A. from Columbia University; an M.A. from Columbia Teachers College; a B.A. from Smith College.