Sandra is Senior Director of Energy and Sustainability and leads the implementation of Elevate Energy’s clean energy initiatives. She works with internal and external stakeholders on clean energy access and climate solutions to advance a more equitable and just clean energy future.

Previously, she was Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Chicago where she led the charge to advance the city towards 100% clean energy by signing onto Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign, committing Chicago to electrify its bus fleet by 2040 and to a community-wide transition to 100% renewable energy by 2035. She led the effort to build ground-mounted solar systems on city-owned underutilized land and led the charge to win Bloomberg Philanthropies American Cities Climate Challenge. Sandra is deeply committed to advancing energy efficiency in buildings as evidenced by her leadership in directing Accelerate Performance, a national initiative that brings performance-based procurement to scale for commercial new construction. Sandra also understands the importance of creating space to have crucial conversations and led the development of a Net Zero summit for private developers in Chicago that now serves as a platform for convening meaningful market transformation conversations with key stakeholders.

For more than 20 years, Sandra has designed and managed energy programs for utilities in Minnesota and Illinois. She embraces market-driven strategies that integrate with the green building movement. Sandra has extensive knowledge of applied sustainability practices that can be measured successfully. She is a high-performance leader who has the unique ability to engage stakeholders at multiple levels and inspire constituents to embrace sustainable practices. She currently sits on Institute for Market Transformation Board of Directors and serves as Treasurer.