Fall 2025 Community Dinner
On October 14, 2025, 71 members of the Nature and Health community gathered at Fremont Brewing’s Urban Beer Garden for our fall community dinner. At this dinner, participants learned about programs, policies, and research that are advancing equitable engagement with nature around Puget Sound.
Nature and Health Community Dinners include:
- A plant-based dinner
- Drinks
- Networking
- Short talks from a wide variety of professionals, including researchers, community leaders, policy-makers, program managers, etc.
About Our Guest Speaker
Our fall 2025 community dinner featured a talk from Sarah Brandt.
Sarah leads King County Parks’ Environmental Policy & Initiatives section. Her team works to acquire, restore, and steward open space and forestland throughout King County, and ensures that Parks’ work aligns with key conservation, climate, and equity initiatives. Most recently, Sarah helped lead the effort to develop King County’s Parks, Recreation, Trails, and Open Space levy, which received nearly 73% of voter approval in August 2025!
Prior to joining King County, she spent 18 years in private consulting, focusing on environmental planning, technical facilitation, and community engagement. She attended Harvard University, earning a degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy. When not at work, Sarah enjoys a good book, seeing live music, carpooling to her kids’ various sporting events, and encouraging everyone to reap the health benefits of getting outdoors!
At October’s community dinner, Sarah shared:
- How participating in this Nature & Health community has unlocked several creative projects and partnerships;
- Other King County programs that bridge nature and health; and
- Exciting efforts underway as 2026 approaches.
Supported By
Our community gatherings are supported by the REI Cooperative Action Fund. We are extremely grateful to the Fund’s commitment to making the outdoors more accessible and inclusive for everyone.