Sarah O’Brien

Sarah O’Brien joined the Dancenorth board in April 2025 following a decade of admiring the work of the organisation from the auditorium. Sarah is passionate about supporting Queensland’s for-purpose sector and ensuring that regional and remote Queenslanders have access to the same arts and cultural experiences as metropolitan communities. 

Sarah is an Advisor to the board of philanthropic foundation, the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, and has overseen the distribution of more than $70 million to regional and remote communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Concurrently, Sarah is an Advisor to the board of the Ningana Trust, a charitable foundation established in 2002 to support women and girls and the unique issues they face in Queensland. She is also a Member of the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation and the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation.

Sarah grew up on a cattle property in Central Queensland, and together with her husband and their three children lives in Brisbane but is a regular visitor to Townsville where her husband’s family originate from.