Sarah Nininger, Founder and Executive Director

As one of the founding team members, Sarah has been involved with Action In Africa since 2006, when it started as a high school club at Aspen High School. In her role as Executive Director and Co-Founder, Sarah has always been responsible for leading, guiding, supporting, and encouraging those on her team and in the community of Nakuadde. As the organization has grown and adjusted based on the needs of our community, those responsibilities have become much more important but ultimately have remained the same. Sarah’s favorite part of running AIA is the people she gets to work with, many of whom have been a part of the organization for over 5 years. She loves the work the organization does and the impact AIA has on so many individuals every single day.

Sarah earned her Bachelors in Integrated Educational Studies from Chapman University and while she has run AIA full-time since the beginning, she has dabbled in odd jobs including being a nanny, a barista, and even a personal assistant. Sarah is passionate about her job and providing people with spaces to gather together. She is passionate about helping individuals become the best version of themselves, herself included, which tends to be a daily project. Sarah is passionate about creating meaningful relationships and building community and is driven by kindness, hope, and authenticity.

Outside of work, Sarah enjoys spending time outside with her dog, Pippa and as much quality time with friends and family as possible. Sarah loves to travel but is also a huge homebody and loves nothing more than being in bed at 9pm. While her guilty pleasure is binging trashy TV shows, Sarah justifies it by working out or doing something physical every day. Sarah also enjoys reading and journaling as well as learning new recipes, dancing to live music (especially country) and volunteering in her own community.