Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn

Sarah-SoonLing is an educator, speaker, author, and professional learning facilitator. She is currently Deputy Director, Learning and Engagement at Learning for Justice. Sarah was born in Bangkok, Thailand into a mixed-race Malaysian Chinese and white American family. A classic "third culture kid," she grew up moving between various East and Southeast Asian countries and the Washington DC area. Sarah moved to the Deep South in 2009, and she has now lived there longer than anywhere else. Her experiences first as a classroom teacher and then as a teacher educator inform her beliefs about the role that education can and must play in the realization of social justice.

She owes very much to her ancestors.

As a professional trainer, Sarah's areas of focus have included workplace cultures, leadership skills, and belonging. Sarah has a B.A. from Haverford College, an M.A. in Social Justice and Education from University College London's Institute of Education. Her doctoral research at Johns Hopkins University explored strategies for retaining rural educators, and her Ed.D. specialization was Instructional Design in Online Teaching and Learning. More information about Sarah, including links to her writing and videos of past workshops, can be found at sarahsoonling.com. She is based out of Oxford, Mississippi.