Sarah Chau

Background

About Sarah Chau

During my undergraduate degree at Niagara University, I started studying for Actuarial Science carrying a heavy focus on mathematics. After attending a Women's Studies course, I felt inspired to make a difference in the world and advocate for those that have been oppressed in our systems. I then made the brave choice to switch my major to Criminal Justice and Criminology at the start of my spring semester as a sophomore shortly before the pandemic. Switching from in-person learning to online learning was quite an adjustment. This new mode of learning allowed me the opportunity to acquire new skills that helped me not only in my formal learning, but also in my interpersonal and professional relations. Having to hold myself accountable for getting my assignments done while learning online required me to become disciplined and thorough. Both of these attributes were driving forces to lead me into my last two jobs. Working as a Sales Associate for Adidas following the height of the pandemic, there came a lot of new rules and regulations for how to connect with individuals while also staying safe. This new role gifted me professional skills in being reliable and understanding. After working as a Sales Associate, I was then promoted to Visual Merchandising Manager. Transitioning to a leadership role brought its challenges in asserting my leadership and trusting in myself that I was capable of effectively running a store. After my time with Adidas, I said goodbye to my life in New York and took the big step of relocating to Salt Lake City, Utah. I started working in the nonprofit field as a Case Manager in the Trafficking in Persons program at the Asian Association of Utah. In this position, I equipped skills to help me in the administrative and interpersonal realms of this role. I learned to be resourceful, people-oriented, and dedicated. On top of my role as a case manager, I offered my services to help with grant writing and reporting. I am now currently working as the Outreach and Education Specialist after working 6 months as a case manager with the same program. Within this new role, I have been given the opportunity to implement my creative and innovative skills to develop our programs social medias. I now work closely with community organizations to establish mutual partnerships while presenting the community with knowledge about human trafficking and the populations we serve. In this short time, I have created and delivered new trainings for the agency such as how to administer a human trafficking screening tool.