Saskia Epstein co-founded IdeaLift (formerly Power Launch Group), a boutique strategy consulting firm that works with organizations to provide key insights, solve problems, design new services and products, inform strategic decision-making, develop capable leaders and identify cultural practices that will fuel success. Saskia is also the co-founder and CEO of Power Launch, a new social impact accelerator and innovation lab. Power Launch invests in compelling ideas, exceptional leaders and high-potential organizations to accelerate social change.

 

Saskia is an experienced strategist and program architect. Most recently Saskia served as the chief executive officer of Room to Grow, a four-star Charity Navigator rated early childhood nonprofit serving low-income families in Boston and New York. With her husband Paul, Saskia also co-founded The Brookline Teen Center, a state of the art facility and program that opened in fall 2013. Another family venture, the Foundation to be Named Later, was launched in 2005 under the umbrella of the Red Sox Foundation, after the team won its first world series in 86 years. To date, the foundation has distributed $8.5M to youth-serving organizations in Boston and Chicago and sent 50 promising young leaders to college. 

 

Saskia has provided volunteer board and committee leadership to several Boston nonprofit organizations. She is a founding board member of City Awake and a Trustee of the Children's Advocacy Center of Suffolk County, an organization that helps child victims of abuse and exploitation to feel safe, cope with trauma and receive legal support. Additionally, Saskia was appointed to Governor-elect Charlie Baker's 2014 transition committee for stronger, safer communities. 

 

Saskia's passion for protecting vulnerable children stems from her work at The Home for Little Wanderers. For ten years, Saskia directed child welfare programs and created new innovative services for children with special needs. 

 

Early in her career she was critical to the growth of two social entrepreneurial ventures, Citizen Schools and City Year, which grew from early-stage start-ups into thriving national organizations. These formative professional experiences ignited Saskia's interest in social innovation, particularly to address the effects and root causes of poverty.

 

Saskia's career trajectory is unusual, never having earned a degree. She is a risk-taker and loves reading and learning new things. Saskia has been widely recognized for her exemplary leadership qualities and accomplishments. Among other awards, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce honored Saskia in 2013 as one of Ten Outstanding Young Leaders. 

 

Some adventures still on her bucket list include training a therapy dog, cycling through France on a culinary tour, running a marathon and becoming a Peace Corps volunteer in retirement.