Sarah Lyon-Hill, Ph.D.

As Director for Research Development at the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement, Sarah Lyon-Hill oversees a portfolio of projects that cultivate viable solutions for community and economic challenges. Sarah works across disciplines to engage key stakeholders, collecting and interpreting both quantitative and qualitative data to provide multiple perspectives and garner the greatest impact.

Sarah’s areas of research include strategic planning, organizational development, socio-economic impact analyses including fiscal and ROI analyses, market and feasibility studies, and community cultural development. Sarah has significant expertise in how to most effectively gauge and articulate the social and economic impacts of different organizations, initiatives, and technologies. Her favorite approach to community problem solving is finding creative ways to merge different research methodologies to best address the needs of each partner. In addition to research, Sarah takes great pleasure in teaching and mentoring students and young professionals interested in community and economic development. 

Sarah joined the Center for Economic & Community Engagement as a graduate student in 2011 and became an economic development specialist in 2014. During these years, she has proved herself an invaluable asset to the team through her tenacity, dedication to research, and caring engagement with those she serves.

Sarah has her Ph.D. in Planning, Governance, and Globalization, where she examined how changing local and national dynamics influence the roles of arts-based community organizations in community and economic development from 1950-2015. She holds a master’s degree from Virginia Tech in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Tech, as well as bachelor’s degrees in French and International Relations from Beloit College.