Sarah Telford is Chief of Data Services at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She oversees a global open data platform, the Humanitarian Data Exchange, and is the lead for establishing a new Centre for Humanitarian Data in the Netherlands in early 2017. Sarah has been with OCHA for 10 years working to improve access and use of data and information in crisis settings.

Prior to joining OCHA, Sarah worked for the UK’s Department for International Development in the Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department in London. She has also worked with UNICEF, the UN in Afghanistan, and the International Medical Corps in Iraq. She began her career with the UN as a press officer with the Department of Public Information in New York.

Sarah has a master’s degree in East Asian studies from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Hofstra University.