Mentored by Saskya VANDOORNE, Paris producer at CNN

Sarah grew up in a multi-cultural family with a French father and a Danish mother. After several years in France, she decided to study in Copenhagen. Upon completing her studies, Sarah worked in various countries such as Lebanon, South Africa and India. In 2017, she joined Sciences Po School of Journalism. Sarah has completed internships in a wide range of activities such as production companies, TV channels, startup news outlets and national newspapers. In 2018, she was awarded the Pascale Gérin Prize for her work at Le Parisien. Sarah hopes to pursue a career in an international media company that combines journalism and innovation. 

Impact of LeadHers’ mentoring program

When Sarah joined LeadHers in 2019, we matched her up with her mentor Saskya Vandoorne, journalist and senior field producer at CNN. Seeing her passion for innovation and journalism, Saskya pushed Sarah to pursue the prestigious Digital Journalism programme at New York University and helped her with her application.

After a difficult application process, Sarah was selected as one of the only 15 students admitted to the programme. But studying at one of the top American universities is expensive, and despite also receiving a merit scholarship, Sarah was still short on funding her dream. She reached out to the LeadHers network to ask for tips and support. And the network came through!

With the help of other LeadHers, Sarah was able to secure an additional donation towards her tuition fee and support in finding affordable housing in New York. We are excited to see that successful women are taking steps to help young mentees advance in their careers, and cannot wait to see Sarah’s career in journalism unfold.