Sarah Godlewski


Sarah Ann Godlewski is an American businessperson and politician serving as the Wisconsin State Treasurer since 2019 She was elected in 2018, defeating Republican Travis Hartwig.
A Democrat, Godlewski was the founder of the Save Our Fiscal Watchdog Committee, a successful effort which defeated an April 2018 proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution to remove the office of State Treasurer. Godlewski led the statewide effort with former Republican State Treasurer Jack Voight.

Early life and career

Godlewski was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and is a graduate of Memorial High School, where she was class president. She attended college at George Mason University, where she studied Peace and Conflict Resolution and served as student body president. During that time, she helped to successfully lobby the Virginia Legislature to pass absentee ballot reforms. Later, she attended the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia and received a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, she was a National Security Fellow for Air War College and attended the Women's Campaign School at Yale University. Godlewski has also been involved as an interviewer with the Veterans History Project.
in 2016
During the 2008 and United States 2008 Presidential Elections, Godlewski served as the national finance council co-chair for Ready for Hillary and was the Wisconsin Women's Director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid. Godlewski has also taught as an adjunct professor at George Mason University. Godlewski worked for Arapahoe County, Colorado from 2012 to 2016 as the Director of the Department of Strategy and Performance. During that time, Godlewski served as a member of the Joint Taskforce on Veterans with PTSD which made recommendations to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the United States Congress. Godlewski worked for Booz Allen Hamilton on Strategy and Organization in Washington, D.C. and was a senior consultant at BearingPoint.
Godlewski's career has led her to work on community Microfinance in India, language and culture strategic planning for the United States Department of State, child protection initiatives in Belize, education reform and public health in Uganda, and social policy work in Sweden. Godlewski worked for the U.S. Department of Defense before co-founding investment firm MaSa Impact.
Godlewski served on the board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and served as chairperson of the UNICEF Advocacy Committee. In addition to her leadership role with UNICEF, Godlewski served on the board for mOm Incubators, the Arlington Academy of Hope, and George Mason University's School of Visual and Performance Arts. Godlewski has also been an investor with WE Capital. In the past, Godlewski has helped to direct Women's Leadership programs for the Democratic National Committee.

Treasurer of Wisconsin (2018–present)

Campaign for Treasurer

In April 2018, Godlewski announced her candidacy for State Treasurer. Godlewski won a three-way primary despite only receiving 43% of the vote on August 14, 2018. Her opponents were former television anchor Cynthia Kaump and former Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass.
In the general election on November 6, Godlewski won the election with 51 percent of the vote.

Tenure

After being elected, Godlewski received a memo from the Legislative Reference Bureau that identified 16 responsibilities that the State Treasurer should be doing but had neglected in recent years. During the transition for Governor-elect Tony Evers, Godlewski was appointed to serve as a member of the Next Generation Workforce and Economic Development Policy Advisory Council. In January 2019, Godlewski was unanimously elected to serve as chairwoman of the state Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. She also began a task force on student loan debt in Wisconsin. In August 2019, Godlewski and Governor Evers established a Retirement Task Force to create new investment options and expand awareness of retirement planning in Wisconsin.

Personal life

Sarah's parents are retired public school teachers. Godlewski lives with her husband Max and their son.