Sara chandler
Strategist & WriterSara is exploring the future of how civic systems create and maintain interdependence through belonging and connection. What infrastructure do we need to make us feel like neighbors, stewards and active participants instead of commuters, consumers, or tenants?
SOCIAL FUTURESDISTRICT 3
ABOUT SARA
Sara is a strategist, program director, and writer whose work explores the social systems that take shape along physical infrastructure. Sara designs and implements initiatives that invite change and become embedded, examining the social, civic, and relational systems that support our built environment. She brings a love of historical context, a skill for facilitating difficult decision-making, and a commitment to programs that are responsive, durable, and grounded in place. Sara holds a Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law and a BA from Emory University, where she studied English Literature with a concentration in the Literature of Marginalized People.
INTERESTSCivic infrastructure, belonging, environmental justice, systems thinking
VISIONTo make the capacity for imagination and connection more visible, more accessible, and more rooted in collective civic life.
SF Welcome Department FIeld Office
The City Department exists to make three things felt
Belonging as something a city does on purpose. In San Francisco, belonging takes eight years and a lot of luck. The Department changes the math. It's a welcome you receive on day one, because somebody designed it for you, and the city decided you (yes, you (^ _ ^)) were worth designing for.
Place as a relationship. The corner store is a relationship. The redwood grove downtown is a relationship. The 30 Stockton bus on a Tuesday at 6:47am is a relationship. The Department introduces you to relationships you'd otherwise need a decade to begin to build.
Civic ritual as the seam between arrival and citizenship. Most cities leave belonging to chance. The Department refuses that. It treats the move from newcomer to local as a transition the city itself should mark, with ritual and witness and a credential that says you've begun.
July 5, 2026 TBD Location
Sara’s Picks
Check out some of the materials and resources that have helped shape Sara’s visions for what could be.
Medium Design: Knowing How to Work on the World by Keller Easterling
Lets just say Keller is tapped in. Her appreciation of what levers exist to build and implement physical infrastructure and how those are used throughout the world are eye-opening and provide a legibility that can support anyone in their quest to design the future in the real world of possibility and constraints.
The Institute by Spencer McCall
Spencer McCall’s documentary about the story of The Jejune Institute, a participatory reality game and art installation that took place in 2008 in San Francisco produced by Jeff Hull, founder of Oaklandish, is an incredible story of a one-of-a-kind project that immersed every day people instantly into a deeper relationship with themselves and the city.
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
Ross Gay's practice of being in touch with what delights him and sharing that with the world is inspirational and, to me, a revolutionary act. In turn, by seeing him model this I've learned to appreciate myself, my family, and my unique view of the world more. A gift!