Sarah Early ’93 is as comfortable navigating the complexities of the human mind as she is trekking through the wilds of Zambia on safari. Her career and passions for travel and giving back—shaped by her experiences at SUNY Geneseo—inspire her to make a positive impact.
For 22 years, Early has served as CEO of the Colorado Physician Health Program, where she specializes in evaluating and supporting physicians working through mental health and substance abuse issues.
Her path to helping others and making a global impact began at Geneseo, where Early majored in psychology, a field she’d been passionate about since high school. “I knew right away I wanted to be a psychologist,” she recalls. “I was very interested in how people could persuade and change other people’s perspectives by talking to them.”
While studying at Geneseo, a chance conversation during her freshman year sparked an unexpected adventure. Early met a senior preparing to study abroad in Ireland, and the idea of international travel stuck with her. Although she hadn’t initially planned on going abroad, by her senior year, she took advantage of a study abroad program in London that would forever broaden her worldview.
“The study abroad experience was 100% life-changing for me,” she says. “It really exposed me to the world, which was the stepping stone to my love of travel.”
Backpacking across Europe with her sorority sisters and navigating London’s public transportation system deepened her global perspective that persists today.
In 2012, she co-founded Dazzle Africa, a nonprofit that leads philanthropic safaris to Zambia. “We’ve brought over $2 million to the area to promote clean water, secondary education, and conservation efforts,” she shares.
As someone who benefited from Geneseo’s combination of real-world experience with a high-quality education, Early strives to pay it forward. “I want to be able to give back and have other students have opportunities to study abroad and have the Geneseo experience because it was just amazing,” she says.
Early’s desire to support future students led her to include Geneseo in her estate planning, ensuring that her legacy will continue to impact the college in perpetuity. “Leaving a legacy is important to me,” she explains. “It’s an easy way to make sure other students can experience the education and opportunities that shaped my life.”
