Meet the host

Sarah Lillie Sewell is Founder & CEO of Lillie Leaf Solutions. As a fiercely passionate servant leader, Sarah builds programs that put a profit motive behind environmental stewardship and social equity. She began Lillie Leaf in 2015 to help the environmental sector develop new ways of addressing diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in their work. Most recently, she launched and administered the Tree Equity: Career Pathways Initiative at American Forests to inclusively grow the urban forestry workforce, which has resulted in the training of hundreds and placement of dozens of individuals facing barriers to employment into entry-level tree care jobs.

Sarah has led Lillie Leaf efforts to partner with entities like the U.S. Forest Service, City Parks Alliance, Arbor Day Foundation, and many more to spearhead justice-driven initiatives that expand access to quality nature. From operating national conferences and workshops to connecting BIPOC-led grassroots groups to key capacity-building resources, Sarah’s signature collaborative approach brings all voices to the table to grow and sustain resilient green communities. Sarah has a dual Bachelor’s degree in Urban & Environmental Studies and a certificate in Geographic Information Systems from the University of Pittsburgh and her Master’s degree in Public Administration from Bowie State University.