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Meet Sarah

Sarah Countryman, our Social Media Committee Lead for the upcoming Global Event, has had such an impact at 48in48 that you would never guess she only started volunteering with us after the 2022 Women’s Build. Since joining 48in48, Sarah has helped us to expand our social media presence by leading a group of volunteers to create content, target our campaigns, and increase our posts. As an organization fostering digital inclusion and championing digital expansion for other nonprofits, it’s amazing to see our own digital presence expanding in that same way!

Coming to Volunteerism

Sarah heard about us from a friend, who recommended 48in48 to her when she asked about volunteer opportunities in tech. Interested in volunteering, but only really doing one-off events for a few hours here and there, Sarah was excited to get involved in a more consistent, goal-oriented way. 

“Being someone in tech, I know the power of technology as far as the power it has on people’s life and the power it has to change your life. If you get into tech, it can do a lot of good – it can also do a lot of bad. And we see the lot of bad, right? With everything in the world, really. And so to come across an organization that uses tech for good, it’s like coming home.”

– Sarah Countryman

As a Senior IT Engineer at Macy’s, Sarah knows that how important access to technology is. She says part of what draws her to 48in48 in particular is knowing that trained professionals can work together, give time that they have, and in just a weekend touch more people than you could possibly know. 

Joining Social Media

When she came to us, Sarah knew she wanted to participate, but wasn’t really feeling called to by any of the build team roles. She knew there was a need for someone to step in, and says that’s just her personality – “if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.” Sarah joined the Social Media Committee for our Social Justice Event, and then stepped up to Lead when we began prepping for our Global Event. 

Sarah says what really encouraged her to step into this role was the knowledge that it would be a challenge, but one with great learning opportunity. Always eager to learn (she’s right now taking a course on DEI initiatives, in her spare time), Sarah understood that social media could be a great tool for communicating with large audiences, but also needed some refining and strategizing to make it work best for 48in48. And there was plenty to learn – before this role, Sarah was only on LinkedIn as a social media, and not using it frequently. She says her time with our committee has greatly increased her understanding of the social media digital landscape.

Looking Forward

Sarah’s advice to a hesitant volunteer? Definitely join in. “It will make you feel so good. You’ll feel so fulfilled about what you are doing. Just being able to support the mission, no matter what you are doing, when it supports 48in48’s mission, it’s awesome.” 

Though she’s excited to join us in-person for the October event, Sarah is particularly excited about the way a hybrid event model increases accessibility for our volunteers and opens our opportunity up to diverse audiences. She’s also looking forward to seeing 48in48 events popping back up across the US over the next few years as we continue to expand back out to more cities!

Sarah’s true “why” is a deep belief that our mission, building no-cost websites for nonprofits, is an incredible example of using tech for good. We’re so grateful for her support – if you want to volunteer alongside Sarah and the rest of the 48in48 family, sign up for the next event!