Sarah Hayes

Director of Innovation and Workforce Development, Commonwealth Cyber Initiative

Sarah Hayes is the Director of Innovation and Workforce Development for the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), a statewide initiative to make Virginia a cybersecurity global center of excellence. She is responsible for all the programs that fall under CCI’s mission lines of Innovation/Commercialization and Workforce Development. Under her leadership, the portfolio has grown to eight programs that serve CCI’s students and faculty, creating opportunities for meaningful experiential  learning and intellectual property commercialization.  

Sarah has two modes: non-stop or not-a-thing. When in non-stop mode, she’s up at 5 a.m. to work out and coach CrossFit, then she’s momming, wifing, and creating cool new programs for CCI. As a double Hokie alum, she’s really into Hokie Football in the fall. When in not-a-thing mode, she likes to watch British, baking, and whodunnit shows (bonus points if it has all three elements) or cheesy Hallmark movies, or curl up with a good mystery novel.  

Sarah graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.A. in international studies and an M.A. in political science. She earned an M.B.A. from James Madison University and holds an active Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.