Brooklyn / honolulu

Sarahlburke@gmail.com

Instagram



Sarah Burke is an independent editor, producer, and strategist specializing in documentary and digital storytelling on LGBTQ+ movements and culture. Known for her GLAAD- and Peabody-winning work as editor-in-chief of Them and special projects editor at VICE, she tells stories that matter in ways that grab audiences.



During her three-plus years leading Condé Nast’s LGBTQ+ publication Them, Sarah redefined and relaunched the brand, doubling its following and establishing it as a singular authority and innovator within queer media. At VICE News, she co-created and served as supervising producer for the Peabody and GLAAD Media Award-winning documentary series Transnational, about trans rights around the world. She also led many of VICE’s most ambitious multimedia projects, including The Gender Spectrum Collection, a widely used stock photo library featuring trans and nonbinary models, and Climate Uprise, a first-of-its-kind initiative uniting all VICE Media Group brands to amplify youth climate activists from across the globe. She also wrote and hosted the podcast Queerly Beloved, an AAJA General Excellence Award winner and ASME finalist. In 2021, she was honored by Gold House as one of 100 Asian Pacific leaders who most impacted culture and society.  

Sarah has spoken at institutions including UC Berkeley, Stanford, and NYU, as well as conferences and festivals like ONA, NLGJA, AAWW, Culture Con, Podcast Movement, and On Air Fest. As a writer, her work has been featured in New York Times Magazine, WIRED, The Washington Post, Them, VICE, KQED, The Creative Independent, Momus, The Believer, SFMOMA Open Space and elsewhere. 

Sarah is queer, Filipina, and splits her time between Brooklyn and Honolulu, where she was born and raised. In past lives, she has been the managing editor of an alt-weekly, the co-curator of an art + tech salon series, and a respected Bay Area art critic.



SELECTED WORKS
FILTER: all, projects, video, editing, writing, curating, events, audio

THE NOW AWARDS

Editor in chief, 
Them, Condé Nast 
2022-2024

In 2022, Them launched the annual Now Awards to honor LGBTQ+ vanguards at the forefront of culture and change. Through awards given across 12 categories, the initiative honors LGBTQ+ people at the forefront of their fields —from sports to politics to literature — through an in-depth profile on Them.us. Now Awards cover stars have included Renee Rapp, Devery Jacobs, Jinkx Monsoon, Nikki Hiltz, Yasmin Finney, Dylan Mulvaney, Chase Strangio, Andrea Jenkins, Cat Runner and many more. Each year, the honorees are flown to New York and celebrated at a gala and awards ceremony during the month of June.  

2024 recap, 2023 recap, 2022 recap
events, editing