Fresh Energy is thrilled to welcome Sarah Gleason to our team as our new director, major gifts. Sarah brings deep experience in fundraising and donor relations from the healthcare and higher education industries, as well as a genuine excitement to put those skills to work for Fresh Energy’s mission to equitably decarbonize Minnesota and the Midwest.
Sarah grew up on a farm just outside of Sauk Rapids. She spent most of her childhood outside enjoying Minnesota’s great outdoors. Sauk Rapids had that close-knit feel where everybody knew each other, but Sarah knew from a young age that she wanted to live and explore somewhere new.
She attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie for her undergrad degree, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management along with certificates in event and meeting management and casino gaming management. She went on to earn her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Minnesota. She started her career with her sights set on events — most specifically, fundraising galas and nonprofit events — because she likes leading fun events that raise money for a good cause.
That interest led her to an internship at CentraCare Health Foundation in St. Cloud, where she shadowed development officers and had a “lightbulb moment:” she was passionate about connecting people to missions they care about.
From there, Sarah built a track record in gifts and development in the nonprofit and healthcare world: she worked at the International Wolf Center (whose headquarters is in the Metro area, but most people are familiar with their center in Ely), Fairview Foundation, and eight years at the University of Minnesota. Each role deepened her experience in building relations with donors, connecting them with causes they truly care about, and helping them understand how their gifts make a major difference.
When Sarah came across Fresh Energy, she was intimidated by the complexities of the energy industry — it’s a technical space, after all! But she kept coming back to it, knowing how important climate and clean energy is for the future of Minnesota. She started reading the Fresh Energy blog to learn more about our advocacy to pass strong climate and clean energy laws at the Minnesota Legislature and engaging in regulatory dockets at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to speed the switch to clean energy. The mission clicked, and she knew she wanted to bring her talents to advance our work to equitably transition Minnesota to a clean energy system.
As Sarah begins her work at Fresh Energy forming relationships with our major donors, she’s especially excited to form relationships with our existing donors, welcome new donors to our work, and laying the groundwork to supercharge our work as Minnesota faces critical climate milestones in 2030, 2040, and beyond.
When she’s not working to connect donors with Fresh Energy’s important work, Sarah spends time with her husband and young son, as well as taking care of their 75-pound Samoyed named Norman. She and her husband love food and try new restaurants around the Twin Cities (ask her for recommendations — she has many), and she’s the baker of the household when time allows.
Join us in welcoming Sarah as the newest member of the Fresh Energy team!