Public Health Planner, City of Columbia
Local government service has been a passion for Sara Humm for a long time. As a high school senior, she successfully ran for the Ottawa (Kansas) City Commission, graduating from high school and completing her undergraduate degree during her four-year term. She served both as mayor pro-tem and as Ottawa University student body president. With history like that, it’s easy to see why the city of Columbia brought Sara on board.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sara played a key role in helping keep the public informed. She also witnessed and experienced the fallout.
“The COVID-19 pandemic was incredibly hard on our public health employees, but Sara is determined to improve employee morale and engagement in our department,” says Michelle Shikles, the city’s public health planning manager. “She led the department’s creation and implementation of an 18-month strategic plan to focus on improving employee satisfaction. She is achieving her goal of ensuring employees feel connected and cared for so that they can better serve our community.”
Sara also took the lead on Boone County Counts, helping ensure that Boone County’s population was accurately recorded for the 2020 census. The county showed a population growth of more than 20,000.
“Getting an accurate census count is so, so important because it has a huge impact on federal funding, grants for nonprofits, redistricting, and much more,” Sara says. “I am so proud that I was able to make an impact in our community that will last for the next 10 years.”
Among those nonprofit organizations that will benefit is The Center Project, where Sara is a volunteer co-coordinator of Prism, the Project’s support group for LGBTQ+ youth.
“She brings such a warm and playful energy to the group,” says Zóra Serfozo, fellow coordinator. “We’ve been really lucky to have her, especially as anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and political sentiment has been on the rise the last couple of years. The teens at Prism just need a safe haven from it all.”
Sara explains, “I try to put positivity out into the world and help my friends, family, coworkers, and others see the positive side of things as well. Sometimes that’s hard, but we’ve all made it through hard times before, so we know it’s possible to do it again.”
Age: 35
Fun Fact:
Sara was the only girl who played tackle football on her elementary school team.
