Free to Run announces new Executive Director, Sarah Murray
Industry veteran joins to drive the next phase of development and growth
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am delighted to announce that Sarah Murray has joined Free to Run as our next Executive Director. Sarah was selected after an extensive and careful recruitment process. We were incredibly impressed by the caliber of applicants - the passion everyone demonstrated for Free to Run’s mission shined through. Sarah stood out as an industry leader and compassionate change-maker, and we are confident that she is the right person to help Free to Run progress to the next stage.
Sarah brings over 25 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit sector, with a unique focus on transforming communities and societies through sport. Sarah spent more than a decade as the U.S. Director and Global Programs Director of Women Win, a global NGO dedicated to helping adolescent girls to achieve their rights using sport and play based strategies. During her time at Women Win, she supported the work of grassroots practitioners and activists from Bolivia to Bangladesh, and impacted the lives of over a million girls, partnering with the likes of Nike, FIFA, Gap, Vital Voices, the U.S. Department of State and the UK Department for International Development.
Most recently, Sarah was the Executive Director at Women’s Wilderness, a nonprofit organization based in the U.S. (Rocky Mountain region) that works on gender justice and health equity through outdoor sports like hiking, rock climbing and backpacking. Sarah also spent a decade with the Women's Sports Foundation working on issues of access and gender equity in sport from a U.S. perspective.
“Free to Run is doing some of the most fundamentally transformational work on intersectional girls and women’s rights that I’ve seen across my work in 60+ countries over 25 years. Stephanie, Taylor and the team laid out an audacious vision and have persisted to make it a reality, in contexts where few dare to go and even fewer make measurable progress. I’m honored to join this team of fierce girl and women leaders and their supporters during such a pivotal time for both the organization and the world we live in,” Sarah said.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Executive Director, Taylor Smith. It has to be said that Free to Run would not be where it is today without Taylor’s fearless leadership and dedication. Taylor joined us in 2016 and over the next 5+ years she helped to develop and expand our programming, funding, organization, visibility and reach across both Afghanistan and Iraq. She has our deepest appreciation for her years of service, her passion for our mission, and her unwavering support during this transition phase.
Taylor said, "now more than ever, it's essential for us to develop female leaders in regions of conflict who can exercise self determination, challenge negative gender and cultural norms and boldly reclaim public space. It is a privilege to be able to pass the reins to someone with so much experience working in this field and I am looking forward to seeing Free to Run grow from strength to strength!"
Please join me in wishing Taylor well in her new position at RefugePoint and in welcoming Sarah to the Free to Run team!
Stephanie Case
President and Founder