Sarah Brooks
First Year at BOSS: 2023 Current Position: Executive Director Hometown: Chazy, New York Currently Resides In: Tucson, Arizona
I came to BOSS because:
Since participating in a nine-month immersion at Wilderness Awareness School, I have sought out ways to continue practicing ancestral skills (fire making, food foraging, hunting, shelter building) in a context that allows me to truly feel their relevance to my life. I have been changed for the better by experiences that strip away the barriers between me and the wild world that sustains me, where I fall to my knees in gratitude for a sip of water, a bite of food, the warmth of fire. BOSS is one of the only schools around that offers the opportunity to practice these skills in context over an extended period of time in the wilderness, guided by extremely experienced instructors who know the land and their craft well. I’m grateful that this school exists.
I work at BOSS because:
I aim to bring my experience in business strategy and nonprofit management to an organization that is creating the change I hope to see in the world. The work that BOSS does is very much in line with my values: reconnecting humans to the wild world that sustains us, practicing and teaching ancestral skills in context, and encouraging human development through immersive and challenging experiences in the wilderness. This is the kind of work that I am excited about, and I am here to support the school to run at its best.
About Sarah Brooks:
Concerned about the imminent crises of the planet, Sarah left Seattle and a ten-year career in business consulting, entrepreneurship, and data analytics to learn more about growing food and living in connection with the land. Three months of working on permaculture farms in New Zealand led to nine months of immersive nature connection study with Wilderness Awareness School. From there she took on the role of Executive Director at Quail Springs Permaculture, an educational nonprofit and off-grid farm in the high desert of California. Before becoming Executive Director of BOSS, she spent time exploring inner and outer wilderness with Animas Valley Institute’s yearlong program Cultivating Soul-Infused Artistry and Leadership in a Time of Global Change.
