Detroit, MI - Sandra grew up in Southeast Michigan, then earned her SB and Masters in City Planning from MIT and taught high school for one year in Mexico before returning to the area to join Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice as the Build Up Detroit Program Manager. Her first encounter with environmental justice was in an international context, but since starting at DWEJ, she have come to understand how important a role EJ plays in major US cities. She strongly believes that the perceived trade-off between the economy and the environment is a false dichotomy, and is proud to be a part of the community creating sustainable solutions in Detroit through green workforce development (among other things). Sandra is too pragmatic to be called an idealist, and too idealistic to be called a pragmatist. Her approach is systems-based and detail-oriented, and she loves to create connections across people, programs, groups, agencies and bodies of work.