Sarah Hillegass is the Director of Public Market Investments at the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer for Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs. In this role, Ms. Hillegass manages the investment portfolios of Illinois’ two 529 college savings programs (Bright Start and Bright Directions), the IL Achieving a Better Life Experience program, and the Illinois Secure Choice state-facilitated retirement savings program. For each portfolio she oversees, she is in charge of conducting due diligence with existing and prospective investment managers, coordinating with external investment consultants on market research, manager searches, portfolio construction, and asset allocation analyses, and monitoring oversight of sustainability integration, corporate governance, and shareholder engagement activities such as proxy voting and public policy advocacy. Previously, she worked at PwC in New York auditing broker dealers and performing financial due diligence for private equity M&A deals. She is a CFA charterholder and a licensed CPA. She received her Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and her undergraduate Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Marquette University. Ms. Hillegass is originally from the Southwest suburbs of Chicago and is the youngest of seven children.