Sarah Labowitz researches and writes about disasters as both looming shocks and windows for adaptation. She publishes the Disaster Dollar Database, which tracks spending on disaster recovery in the United States.  

Sarah previously worked in leadership roles at the ACLU of Texas and the City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department, and was a policy advisor at the U.S. Department of State. She co-founded and co-directed the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. 

She is a producer with Untold, a film production company that tells sensitive documentary and narrative stories. Her first feature length documentary, TEXAS, USA, was released in 2023. 

Sarah is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Grinnell College. She serves on the board of the Houston Committee on Foreign Relations and Houston’s Human Rights Subcommittee for the 2026 World Cup. She previously served as a World Economic Forum Global Future Council member and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She was included in Forbes’ inaugural 30 Under 30 list for law and policy in 2012 and recognized in 2017 for her volunteer work during Hurricane Harvey. Sarah lives in Houston, Texas.