Published by Paul Ivinskas · Politically neutral. No endorsements.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Utah, on the record.

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Public officials and candidates

Sarah Young

Council Member, District 7, Salt Lake City

Official-page portrait of Sarah Young
Official-page portrait file photo. Photo: Salt Lake City (photographer uncredited) · Copyright retained by rights holder · Wikimedia Commons

Salt Lake County

Office held

Council Member, District 7Salt Lake CitySource

Recorded “no” votes in council minutes

The Salt Lake City City Council minutes, as summarized by The Utah Ledger, name Sarah Young among the members voting no on 5 agenda items. Minutes do not always record each member's vote, so this list does not show how Sarah Young voted on other items. On a motion to deny, table or continue, a no vote is a vote against that motion. It is not a score or a rating.

From council minutes collected by The Utah Ledger; each item links to the meeting page and its official minutes.

Science education and teaching

Sarah Young earned a biology degree at the University of Colorado Boulder and a master’s in middle-school science curriculum at Lesley University. She taught eighth-grade physical science at Rowland Hall and directed its Teacher Training Institute. Her background also includes teaching science methods at Westminster College and an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship at the National Science Foundation. [1]

State education leadership and council work

Young represents Salt Lake City’s District 7. Before joining Western Governors University, she served as chief of staff to Utah’s state superintendent and held strategic-initiatives, STEM and digital-learning roles. Her official biography describes leadership of federal pandemic-relief work for K–12 schools and research on rural computer-science education. These responsibilities involved statewide implementation and coordination across education programs. [1]

Sarah Young's council biography identifies her current job as lead policy adviser at Western Governors University, where she was earlier deputy chief of staff to the president. It also describes a decade at the Utah State Board of Education as chief of staff to the state superintendent, director of strategic initiatives, STEM specialist and digital teaching and learning coordinator. [3]

Current professional and municipal interests

Young now serves as lead policy adviser at Western Governors University after working as deputy chief of staff to its president. Her council biography describes work spanning strategy, government relations and academic affairs. Her stated municipal interests include affordable housing, transportation safety, parks and trails, sustainability and opportunities for small businesses, connecting institutional planning experience with neighborhood issues in Sugar House. [1]

Professional development and transition

WGU’s own profile describes Young completing its educational-leadership endorsement program in 2016 while working at the state education agency. It connects that credential to a subsequent digital-teaching leadership assignment and, later, employment at the university. The account adds a specific professional-development timeline to the teaching and policy responsibilities documented in her city biography. [2]

Profile sources

Profile refreshed October 20, 2026. Candidate statements describe the candidate's own experience or positions; official records and reporting are labeled separately.

  1. Official council biography · Official record
  2. WGU professional and alumni profile · Professional biography
  3. Salt Lake City Council, District 7 · Official record

In the news

No Utah Ledger stories name Sarah Young yet.

Sources

  1. Salt Lake City Council, Contact Us
  2. Salt Lake City Council, District 7

Office and ballot data as of October 15, 2026. See something wrong? Tell us.