Elizabeth Drake
Director, Sustainability
Sustainability
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Elizabeth Drake is the director of sustainability at Swarthmore College, leading the Office of Sustainability's efforts to integrate sustainability into every aspect of campus life including teaching, learning, operations, and culture. In her role, Elizabeth envisions and implements sustainability initiatives to mitigate the college’s environmental impact and to build awareness of the connection between sustainability and issues of social justice.
A central piece of Elizabeth’s work is supporting the College's ambitious energy plan, To Zero By Thirty-Five (20x35), which includes a resilient energy system that provides reliable, safe, sustainable, and cost-effective electricity, heating, and cooling to support Swarthmore’s educational mission and achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. Elizabeth also directs the President's Sustainability Research Fellowship, a high-impact engaged scholarship program that equips students with the skills and knowledge to lead change for sustainability.
Elizabeth previously served as the Climate Action Manager when she joined Office of Sustainability in 2019. Prior to her time at Swarthmore College, Elizabeth managed sustainability and regenerative development for Fetzer Vineyards, the largest B Corp-certified wine company in the world. Her work focused on implementing forward-thinking initiatives to meet waste, water, energy, emissions, supply chain, and social impact goals in pursuit of net positive operations.
Elizabeth holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and Sustainability from Cornell University, a master's in environmental studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and a certificate in Applied Sustainable Operations from Presidio Graduate School.
