Sändra is currently a City Councilperson for Lincoln, Nebraska and a member of the Climate Resiliency Task Force that contributed to the development of Lincoln’s Climate Action Plan. She is a retired parks professional who worked with the National Park Service for nearly 25 years before her retirement.

In this conversation, Sändra talks with Kim Morrow, Director of Climate Planning and Resilience at Verdis Group. A trained conservationist, Sändra discusses how she went from wanting to spend all her time in the woods to wanting to spend all her time building community. She discusses the lessons she has learned by serving in a public leadership role through the unusually trying year of 2020 as Lincoln’s City Council has dealt with a public health crisis, an economic crisis and a racial justice crisis all at the same time. The pandemic has taught her that communities need to continue to solve problems in the future with the sense of adaptability, creativity and open-mindedness that they practiced this year. Her work has led her to embrace a sense of grace, to welcome shades of gray, and to practice patience, forgiveness and understanding in building stronger and more resilient communities.