Get to know the Sabo Center!
In each Staff Feature installment, we ask members of the Sabo Center staff to share what they do, along with some fun facts.
This post features Allyson Green, Chief Sustainability Officer.
What do you do at Augsburg?
I help Augsburg live out our call to care for the world around us and the people, plants, and animals who live, work, play, grow, and depend on each other here. The daily reality of that looks different all the time but includes moving Augsburg forward on its climate commitment and other sustainability goals, supporting the Campus Kitchen program, and managing the community garden.
What’s one social issue that is most important to you right now?
Student loan debt and climate change (yes, that’s two, and I’m okay with that!).
What’s your favorite place on Augsburg’s campus?
If you could recommend one book, movie, or podcast, what would it be and why?
Resmaa Menakem’s My Grandmother’s Hands. It’s been foundational to anti-racism work I’ve been part of that’s not just about changing how we think about white supremacy but recognizing how it shows up in our bodies and learning to navigate it differently and with less harm to the people around us. Read it in community with other people!
What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?
Currently, sitting on my front porch and chatting with neighbors while the sun goes down!
What are three words you would use to describe yourself?
Curious, adventurous, and usually hungry.
What’s your favorite place in the world?
The bonfire pit that sits between my aunt/uncle’s house and what used to be my grandparents’ (and is now my sister’s) house in my hometown of Baraboo, WI!
What’s the coolest thing you are working on right now?
Answering these questions! And…evaluating our “Green by 2019” climate commitment and collectively envisioning how we want to continue to live up to this in a way that reflects the urgency of climate change and how it intersects with all of our individual, communal, and systemic experiences and structures.
Name one spot in the Twin Cities that you consider a “must-see.”
There’s a big old Cottonwood tree that goes sideways out over the Mississippi River just north of White Sands Beach that’s a “must-climb.”
Who would you most like to swap places with for one day?
A kid! Any kid, I think, because it would be good to be reminded of what that feels like while also bringing all my adult self to that experience.
Have any last facts/favorite quotes/advice/etc. that you would like to share?
I once got to spend 3 hours with Wendell Berry on his porch, swapping stories about the circus and the woods, and also learning that he’s very cynical about giving advice, so I’ll take his lead and say no thanks to giving advice (though I’m sure he had a poetically snarky way of saying it).
