Sigrid Wright
CEO
Executive Director
Sigrid Wright brings more than 35 years of experience in nonprofit environmental leadership, grounded in long-term, community-based work on climate, energy, and food systems. She has spent most of her career with the Community Environmental Council and has served as CEO since 2015.
Under her leadership, CEC has expanded its regional work across Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties. She has helped strengthen the organization’s partnerships, fundraising capacity, and long-term infrastructure to support ambitious goals and deliver meaningful results. During her tenure, she led a successful $17 million anniversary campaign and helped open a community-based Environmental Hub designed to support collaboration, learning, and resilience.
Wright’s leadership style is people-centered and results-driven. She works closely with staff, boards, and partners to support clear strategy and shared accountability. Her experience includes working with philanthropy to strengthen institutions and support place-based climate solutions.
Wright is a co-founder of the Central Coast Climate Justice Network, the Central Coast Climate Collaborative, and the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network. She has co-authored or edited more than a dozen regional policy and planning documents. Earlier in her career, she led the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival production team for more than 15 years.
In 2020, the Community Environmental Council was recognized as a California Nonprofit of the Year by then-Assemblywoman Monique Limón. In 2022, Wright was honored with a Congressional Woman of the Year Award by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal.
Wright serves on the board of Leading From Within and is an alum of its programs, including Growing Edge Leaders and the Katherine Harvey Fellows program. She also serves on the Santa Barbara Foundation's Food Grant Committee. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in communications design from the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts at the University of Baltimore.
Learn more about Sigrid in this Bluedot Living Santa Barbara feature.
Sigrid's Latest Posts
As we enter a new year, CEC is significantly expanding our staff and programming to meet the increasing demands of the climate crisis. To accommodate this growth, we are moving around the corner to 1219 State St., where CEC will once again have street level presence in the center of the community.