Sarah Spencer is Senior Fellow and former Deputy Director at COMPAS, primarily working on projects in the Urban Change and Settlement and Welfare clusters. Her particular interests are in migrant integration and equality issues, and in the policy making process. She is the author of a critical analysis of UK migration and integration policies, The Migration Debate (Policy Press 2011) and is currently exploring issues relating to irregular migrants in Europe. Sarah is also Chair of the Equality and Diversity Forum, the network of equality and human rights organisations, and a member of its academic research and policy network. She is a Visiting Professor at the Human Rights Centre, University of Essex; a member of the Royal Society working group on People and the Planet, and a Trustee of the National Flood Forum. She is an advisor to Atlantic Philanthropies in Dublin.

Sarah was Deputy Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, where she oversaw its work in the public sector, and is a former General Secretary of Liberty (the National Council for Civil Liberties). She is currently serving on the advisory group to the Government Equality Office (GEO) and on the advisory committee to the British Institute of Human Rights. She has formerly been a member of Government taskforces on Gypsies and Travellers; the Human Rights Act and the Commission on Equality and Human Rights. In 2007, Sarah was awarded a CBE for services to equal opportunities and human rights.