Sarah Olmstead Email & Phone Number

Washington, District Of Columbia, United States

Pristina, Kosovo

Representing MCC in Kosovo, and supporting implementation of the Kosovo Threshold Program. The Kosovo Threshold Program has two projects. The Reliable Energy Landscape project addresses the country's struggles with the reliability of its energy supply. This project encourages greater household energy efficiency via weatherization programs, as well as facilitating the switch to non-electric sources of heating (particularly district heating) through a weatherization pilot and introduction of consumption-based metering of district heat. MCC’s investments also work to bolster private-sector participation in the power sector by exploring barriers to finance for independent power producers, and create opportunities for women to participate in the energy sector through both employment and entrepreneurship.The Transparent and Accountable Governance Project addresses the concern that decision-making is often opaque, leading to distrust by the private sector and civil society, and high perceptions of corruption, as well as actual opportunity for corruption. Kosovo’s judiciary is one the country’s least trusted institutions. This project supports the implementation of a system to make judicial information (both general statistics and individual cases) publicly available, and improvements to the collection and reporting of environmental data to the public. An open innovation competition will let the government pose their challenges to civil society and private sector stakeholders to propose creative, data-grounded solutions, which can be a model for more productive partnerships between government and civil society.

Pristina, Kosovo

Leading the development for MCC of one of the largest energy storage (BESS) projects in Europe. Partnering with the Government of Kosovo to design a Compact program focused on energy transition, energy diversification, balancing for renewables, and regional energy integration.The Energy Storage Project aims to support Kosovo’s energy security and transition to a cleaner energy future. The project includes supporting battery storage systems that will enable Kosovo’s transmission system and market operator to cost-effectively smooth out imbalances in the electricity grid, supporting either a public energy storage entity or an entity created through a public-private partnership to deploy additional energy storage, and strengthening the regulatory environment of energy storage systems, renewable energy projects, and climate change management in a more sustainable and gender inclusive way.The Just and Equitable Transition Acceleration (JETA) Project aims to increase female representation in the energy sector by promoting gender equitable practices within companies, supporting networking, mentoring, and training opportunities for women, strengthening educational pathways, and providing technical assistance and small grants to energy and adjacent sector employers. The project also includes development of new technical training programs to provide the skills demanded by employers in the energy sector and required to meet the needs of Kosovo’s energy transition.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Led Compact Development process for MCC program in Kosovo.

Washington, Dc

• Serve as lead economist to several countries in development and implementation: Benin, Georgia, Lesotho, Liberia, Mongolia, Namibia, and Philippines. • Used economic tools to guide development of programs in energy in Liberia (rehabilitation of hydropower resources), Benin (off-grid solutions), Mongolia (wind farm), as well as other sectors in the Philippines, Georgia, leading a cross-functional team of host country economists and MCC staff, monitoring progress and providing capacity building as necessary to achieve timely and inclusive results.• Provide cost benefit analysis and other economic modeling to country teams on projects and activities, and updating economic analysis to reflect and guide activity modifications. Facilitate unified vision of program logic across a variety of stakeholders (sector experts, government representatives, and potential beneficiaries).• Manager on several programs and contracts, including $16 M TVET project in Georgia.• Guide and inform impact evaluation of programs in collaboration with Monitoring and Evaluation colleagues and independent evaluators.• Developed several new program development documents to ensure learning and promote improved risk management practices. Piloted several new data collection methodologies at MCC including the Delphi Process and some creative survey techniques.• Lead Constraints Analysis process and compact development in Benin, Liberia, and Philippines, working closely with a team of host country economists and providing capacity building as necessary. Facilitated development of early program logic, Root cause analysis and framework for cost benefit analysis of proposed programs.• Participation in LEAD, MCC's leadership development program. Active lead in promoting an innovation agenda at MCC. As part of this program, underwent a training of the trainers course in Human Centered Design and am one of five people offering HCD facilitation to teams at MCC.

Washington, Dc

Doctrinal Support of S/CRS and S/CRS country engagements• Leading after action review (AAR) process for conflict assessment and other S/CRS engagements, producing lessons learned and policy recommendations for S/CRS Civilian Responders.• Developing an analytical spreadsheet to analyze data from AAR survey as well as a database system to help extract lessons learned and develop best practices from out Learning Processes (AARs, In-Progress Reviews, focus groups, interviews, client surveys, etc.) and support monitoring and evaluation of S/CRS engagements.• Developing knowledge management system to feed evaluation information back into S/CRS corporate practices and help foster S/CRS as a learning organization.• Providing doctrinal support (metrics, evaluation, contingency planning, conflict assessment) to Regional Country teams and engagements.• Developing sector-specific guides on tools for conflict prevention and assessment to aid S/CRS planners to make more effective and efficient whole-of-government plans.• Act as Doctrine liaison to the Conflict Prevention unit (CP) within S/CRS, working with CP to develop lessons learned and best practices related to CP tools and activities such as the Interagency Conflict Assessment Framework (ICAF). Developing links between conflict prevention practice and doctrine, connecting disparate processes of practice, planning and theory.

Santa Monica, Ca

Dissertation Topic: I assess connections between cooperative water and land management and risks to economic development and regional political security and terrorism in the transboundary Ferghana Valley. I develop an econometric model of these interactions that will inform a physical water model of the system, potentially allowing for a new water management narrative: rather than threatening lack of water as the downside of poor water and land management, managers can point to economic and political stability consequences, which may be more convincing to decision-makers. I offer policy recommendations for irrigation infrastructure, agricultural planning, and multi-nation cooperative planning. Research field work in Uzbekistan supported by Eugene Rosenfeld Dissertation Award for Development in Asia and the Pacific and Fred S. Pardee Dissertation Award for Regional Long-Range Policy Analysis. Selected Project WorkProgram Evaluation of the EPA’s Performance Track ProgramSummarizing context in which the Performance Track program was developed and identifying stakeholder complaintsAiding the South Sudan referendum processWriting case studies on cooperative, transboundary water management structures, popular consultation processes, and citizenship issues in previous instances of state break-up. Traveled to Sudan as an Expert on behalf of the AU to participate in the Exposure Session for referendum negotiators.Risk Assessment of Environmental Health Risks in the UAEResearching and writing rapid risk assessments for environmental health risks faced by residents of the United Arab Emirates, including indoor and ambient air pollution and occupational hazards. Ran regression analysis of outcomes of the impact of risk training sessions.Future of Transportation and Fuels in China and IndiaAnalyzing transportation and energy use and economic incentives to alternate energy use. Benefit analysis of health risks from accidents and air pollution in China and India.

Washington, Dc

• Edited manuals on indicators to monitor government fulfillment of Environmental Health rights. Contributed to background research for the Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation.• Worked on the Geospatial Technologies for Human Rights project, examining and marking satellite imagery for evidence of large-scale human rights violations in Zimbabwe and Chad.

Department Of Physics

• Worked in the lab of Dan Dahlberg, measuring magnetic field switching on nanoscale magnetic particles.• Worked in the lab of Joachim Mueller, conducting in vivo fluorescence autocorrelation spectrocopy observing protein oligomerization. • Teaching Assistant for College of Science and Engineering physics courses (mechanics, E&M, etc)

Los Alamos, New Mexico

Worked at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center under Steve Wender, investigating neutron capture cross-section of deuterium.

Batey Palmarejo, Dominican Republic

• Taught preschool, social empowerment in Batey Palmarejo (cane cutting community).• Accompanied MUDHA doctor on house-calls, interviewed women on health issues faced in batey.

Cape Town, South Africa

Attended various parliamentary meetings on behalf of monitoring activities of the Black Sash and the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, especially of the Joint Monitoring Committee of the Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women, reporting proceedings to stakeholders.

Policy Analysis

Master Of Science (Msc), Physics

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Physics

Activities and Societies: Study abroad in South Africa, Dominican Republic, and Mexico. Employed by college Writing Center.