Frances Sawyer

Frances Sawyer is a climate and energy strategist whose work focuses on the critical role that states, local governments, and communities play in moving forward climate solutions. She founded and runs Pleiades Strategy, a research and strategy firm that supports mission-driven organizations working toward a democratic, climate-safe future. Her research has been featured in publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, S&P Global, and PBS Newshour.

A graduate of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Frances served as a policy advisor to Tom Steyer and an appointee in California Governor Jerry Brown’s Administration. Alongside her work at Pleiades Strategy, she serves as a Senior Advisor to Climate Cabinet Action, was a Coro Lead Bay Area Fellow, and is a political partner with the Truman National Security Project. She lives in San Francisco, and her favorite hobby is picnicking, especially in a Trust for Public Land protected park!

Why I Support TPL: Parks are simply the best. Everyone should have easy access to a great park. Parks are also places we can — and must — create and take care of together. Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, I watched the Trust for Public Land model exactly how to do that. There, the Trust for Public Land has steadily and quietly shaped the city from the Beltline to the Chattahoochee River to the preservation of the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Each of these projects has made Atlanta more fun, connected, and liveable.

Here in California, TPL has done the same: built quiet, powerful partnerships to protect iconic landscapes and animate urban greenspace. From the Presidio to the Marin Headlands, these parks are wonderful places to play — and they are also critical climate solutions. From projects in the Sierra headwaters to shoreline parks like India Basin to green schoolyards in Oakland, parks help keep Californians safer from extreme heat, changes in precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and fire. In California’s changing climate, this work is urgent. Very few organizations do more to make such a joyful, connected, resilient future tangible. I am proud to help advance that work in California.