Sara LaHayne is the founder & CEO of Move This World, an organization that provides interactive social-emotional learning (SEL) experiences for preK-12 students, educators and families. Rooted in creative arts therapy and positive psychology, Move This World programs are evidence-based and designed for seamless delivery through multimedia experiences that spark movement, connection and social-emotional development. The organization has impacted the lives of over 3.5 million students across 45 states and nine countries.
A lifelong dancer and former professional performer, LaHayne authored, implemented and evaluated the original Move This World curriculum fifteen years ago as a Fulbright Scholar in Bogotá, Colombia.
LaHayne is a graduate of the University of Virginia. She was a 2016 Stevie Award winner for Female Innovator of the Year; a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum; an American Express Ashoka Emerging Innovator; a Cordes Fellow with the Opportunity Collaboration; the only U.S. recipient of the Youth Leader Award in the Americas by the Inter-American Development Bank Annual Board of Governors Meeting; an Ashoka Activating Empathy Award winner; a three-time Beyond Sport Award finalist; named a “Woman Entrepreneur” by World Resources Institute New Ventures Mexico; a Creative Community Fellow with National Arts Strategies; a StartingBloc Fellow; a finalist nominee Social Entrepreneur/Innovator for the Women’s Information Network 18th Annual Young Women of Achievement Award; 1 of 3 Artists Transforming the World by the Arts and Healing Network; a Global Good Fund Fellow; a Susan Schiffer Stautberg Leadership Fellow and was honored among The Jewish Week New York’s “36 Under 36.”
LaHayne has presented at conferences across five continents and been featured in CNN, Forbes, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, ABC7, The Atlantic, Education Week, The Huffington Post, USA Today, The Hechinger Report, Education Dive, TODAY Parenting, Edutopia, and EdSurge, among others.
Most importantly, she is the inspired mother of three small children, who present her with hourly opportunities to Move This World. She lives with her children and her husband in New York.
