Sara Allan is the Director of Early Learning and Education Pathways in the United States Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  She joined the foundation in 2011 as the Deputy Director of the K-12 team and most recently led the foundation’s work to expand research & development of promising solutions to longstanding teaching and learning challenges that hold students back from reaching their full potential.  Currently, Sara leads program strategies aimed at improving outcomes for children in early learning programs so they enter kindergarten ready to learn and as young people, successfully navigate a path from high school through post-secondary, along the way developing agency, skills, social capital and attaining credentials that enable upward mobility in the workforce.  Sara grew up in a family of educators in Ontario, Canada, and attended Canadian public schools from Kindergarten through graduate school.  She is the mother of three teenagers and lives in Seattle, Washington.