Sarah Lightfoot

Sarah Lightfoot is Chief Executive Officer of UNSW College and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education Futures at UNSW Sydney. An experienced education leader, Sarah has a passion for connecting people with the transformative power of education and brings 20 years of senior leadership experience across Australia and internationally.

Sarah’s career in education spans ELICOS, vocational education and training (VET) and higher education. At UNSW, she has worked in a number of senior leadership roles, including at UNSW Business School and UNSW International. In these roles and throughout her career, Sarah has won multiple awards for marketing and leadership.

Prior to joining UNSW, Sarah was Vice-President and General Manager of Marketing and Sales at Navitas, the world’s largest university pathway provider. She was responsible for recruitment, marketing and admissions across 16 business units in Australia, Dubai, New Zealand and Singapore. Sarah led a highly successful business transformation at Navitas, focused on developing new opportunities for students to experience the life-changing impacts of higher education.

Sarah commenced as Chief Executive Officer of UNSW College in August 2021, resetting the organisation’s strategy and leading its transformation into a higher education provider in its own right. Under her leadership, the College has achieved Higher Education Provider status, expanded its transnational education partnerships, extended its Diploma offerings to the domestic market in 2025 and further diversified its education offerings. Most recently, UNSW College launched Applied Degrees, three-year nested bachelor’s degrees designed in collaboration with industry to combine academic learning with practical, career-focused skills.

Appointed as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education Futures) at UNSW Sydney in December 2025, Sarah is building on these foundations to lead the expansion of UNSW College’s offerings domestically and globally, connecting students from all parts of the world with access to quality higher education.