As Chief Operating Officer at BES, Sara Zainab Bokhari (she/her/hers) sits at the heart of internal operations, supporting the BES team in driving toward the mission of educational opportunity and excellence. Prior to joining BES, Sara served as Head of People and Culture at a high-growth ed-tech startup where she designed and built the organization’s first people function. She has also served as an educational consultant at TNTP, where she spent 10 years working alongside central office staff, school administrators, and teachers in developing leaders to be designers and advocates for equitable systems and student achievement. She is a passionate advocate for inclusive management practices and is certified as a Neurodivergent Work and Family Coach.
An alumna of George Washington University (MBA), Bank Street College of Education (MA), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (BA), Sara balances her professional life with plenty of personal passions. She’s a pickleball enthusiast, a tea connoisseur, and a leader in her child’s scouting pack. She lives near Chicago and sneaks in hiking trips and park playdates with her three kids whenever she can.
