Sara Woods, MPA
- Chief Engagement Officer
- Office of Engagement
Additional Information
About Sara Woods
Sara Woods is the Chief Engagement Officer at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). She has worked at UNO for her entire professional career. In her current role, she oversees the UNO Office of Engagement, which connects the abundant knowledge, talent, and energy found on our campus to the communities we serve. The Office of Engagement includes the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center (CEC), the UNO Service Learning Academy, Volunteer and Civic Engagement Programs, the Community Engagement Partnership Initiative, and other programs to measure, recognize, and account for the impact of UNO’s engagement efforts.
Previously, Sara was Executive Associate to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Community Engagement. In this role, she led the operational design, launch, and operation of the CEC beginning in 2014. She has also served as Assistant and later Associate Dean of UNO’s College of Public Affairs and Community Service.
Woods earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Administration degrees from UNO. She has led and served on multiple community and statewide boards including the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, Phoenix Academy, Omaha Women’s Fund, and Nonprofit Association of the Midlands and currently serves as a member of the advisory board of the Financial Hope Collaborative, the Douglas County Overdose Fatality Review Board, and the Nebraska Humanities Foundation.
She has been recognized for her service to the campus with the UNO Chancellor’s Medal, CPACS Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Chancellor’s Commission on the Status of Women Award. For her community service, she was named a YWCA Woman of Distinction in 2009, named an “Admiral” of the Nebraska Navy in 2016, and received recognition during Women’s History Month by the US House of Representatives in July of 2017. She received the Community Builders Award from Civic Nebraska in 2019.
Woods is an avid gardener and hiker. She and her husband, Kirby, have two grown sons, a golden retriever, and a granddog.