Sara POTLER LaHayne

Founder and CEO of Move This World
The Power of Creative Expression

About

Sara Potler LaHayne is the visionary Founder of Move This World, an organization built around the conviction that our children are the future. A Fulbright Scholar, a professional dancer, and an award-winning social entrepreneur, Sara has dedicated her life to the emotional wellbeing of children and adults alike.

And Sara has been on her own social and emotional journey. Like many entrepreneurs, she was the first person in the office every morning and the last to leave every night. She took meetings all over the country while managing employees, developing and maintaining quality programming, and raising funds. As the company she started was cultivating students’ social emotional learning skills — her own wellbeing was suffering.

Sara was burning out. It wasn’t until she realized how much her own emotional health impacted her creativity, that MTW really began to thrive. Now, Sara heralds The Power of Pause, her method of reclaiming time to refuel, recharge, and bounce back stronger than before. The Power of Pause has allowed her to move through change, cultivate creativity in everyday life, become more resilient, and grow personally alongside Move This World.

Today, Sara has built a leading ed-tech media company impacting students and communities across the country. At the same time, she has attracted millions of investment dollars. She has been honored with awards, presented at conferences across five continents, and been featured in some of the world’s leading publications. Sara still wakes up at an ungodly hour, but now she works out and meditates first.

Move This World currently supports millions of students across the country – and its role is becoming more critical than ever due to the overwhelming pressure, stress, and fear in our schools. Depression and anxiety are regularly experienced by an alarming number of students. Rates of suicide and overdose continue to rise while teacher retention is headed in the opposite direction. School shootings are increasing at alarming rates, as are standard active shooter drills. The bottom line is this: our children are not safe either mentally or physically.

There isn’t one single solution, but unless we collectively decide to prioritize the social and emotional wellbeing of our children, we have no chance of helping and healing our schools and our communities. Sara has dedicated her life to that very mission.

We invite you to spend some time on this website by reading some of her blogs, articles, and watching some of her speaking engagements, which have inspired so many. Also, please visit MoveThisWorld.com and check out the incredible work Sara and her team are doing.

But most importantly, join the social and emotional education revolution. If we can’t manage our emotions or have empathy for those experiencing hard times, then nothing else matters. We are nothing without healthy relationships, starting with the one we have with ourselves.

Join us. Together, we can Move This World.