Sarah Prendergast is a senior research associate in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population 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.