Hello!

My name is Sara Epstein, and I am thrilled to share a little bit about who I am personally, professionally, and why I am running for Position 3 on the David Douglas School Board.

I live in SE Portland with my husband and two kiddos. Our eldest is a current student at Earl Boyles, and our younger one will be an incoming kindergartener in the fall of 2025. In my free time I like to walk, run, garden, and hang out with family and friends. I also enjoy volunteering in the classroom every other week to support reading/writing skills. This spring I am coaching an afterschool “Run Club” for kiddos at Earl Boyles, which has been a blast.

In my professional life, I work in public health as a Sr. Program Manager for a large health system. I help develop the tools in the electronic medical record to support clinical and operational improvement, and also develop trainings for physicians and teams to have conversations with patients around serious illness. If you are interested in my research and academic history, click here.

I am running for Position 3 of the David Douglas School Board because I know the influence that school boards have in shaping the education that our students receive, and I want to ensure our community has a voice. We are entering the 2025-26 school year with a budget deficit, making the decisions around what to prioritize even more crucial this year. I bring a history of community based participatory action, which means that the direct service programs and research I have been involved in is directly shaped by the community it serves. If elected, I would continue the practice of using a high level of involvement and input from our teachers, administrators, supportive staff, parents, and students.

The priority areas I have chosen are based on conversations with community members and DDSD staff, as well as from the incumbent to this position, State Representative Hoa Nguyen. I honor her passion and work as a DDSD Board Member, and plan to continue her values and integrity.