Sarah Wells is a policy practitioner, nonprofit executive, and entrepreneur with more than 20 years at the intersection of public policy, political institutions, and economic advocacy. She founded Modern Commerce to translate the operational realities of digital and omnichannel sellers into the federal policy modernization they need to grow.
Sarah previously served as Executive Director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care (2009–2013), where she led the organization through passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, renewed and expanded a major federal contract during an economic downturn, and grew grassroots advocacy network participation by 66%. Before that, she served as Vice President of Women in Government (1999–2009), where she founded the public policy department and led a bipartisan national initiative resulting in 192 pieces of state legislation across all 50 states. Across both roles and through her own advocacy, Sarah was a consistent voice for the workforce of mothers, contributing to the passage of the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and paid family leave in Virginia.
In 2013, Sarah founded Sarah Wells Bags, a mission-driven consumer products company she built from startup into a multi-million dollar omnichannel business. Operating across digital marketplaces, direct-to-consumer channels, and wholesale, she navigated Section 301 tariffs, IEEPA tariff escalation, the elimination of de minimis, and multi-state regulatory compliance firsthand. Her global supply chain spans Cambodia and China, with exports to Europe, Canada, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Sarah has testified before Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, and the U.S. Trade Representative, with her story cited on the U.S. Senate floor.
Sarah Wells speaking to members of Congress on small business and trade policy.
A go-to media resource on small business, trade, and commerce policy with 100+ interviews in the last year (CNN, NPR, BBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal), Sarah is also the author of Go Ask Your Mothers (Matt Holt Books / BenBella, 2024), a SUCCESS bestseller adopted by Fortune 500 companies to inform workforce and caregiving policy. She publishes the Moms Mean Business Substack to 30,000+ readers and founded the Otrera Collective, a mentoring network for woman-owned small businesses.
Active in policy leadership in her home state of Virginia, Sarah holds an M.A. in Public Policy and Women's Studies from The George Washington University and a B.A. in Political Science and Women's Studies from American University. She has been a guest lecturer at Georgetown, American, Yale, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins. She lives with her husband Greg and two daughters in Fairfax, Virginia.
