Sarah Prendergast is a senior research associate in the Family and Financial Well-Being Division at the Urban Institute. As an applied developmental scientist, her research focuses on programs, policies, and contexts that support child and family well-being. In 2017, Prendergast was awarded the Doris Duke Fellowship for the Promotion of Child Well-Being through Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Before joining Urban, Prendergast worked in the Colorado Department of Human Services’ Office of Early Childhood as a Society for Research in Child Development Post-doctoral State Policy fellow.

Prendergast received her PhD in applied developmental science from Colorado State University.