Sarah Elizabeth Ippel

Sarah Elizabeth Ippel is an internationally recognized social innovator, sustainability champion, and civic leader whose life mission is to cultivate thriving communities. At age 23, she rode her bicycle to the Chicago Board of Education to present a bold vision: reimagine what is possible in public education. Three years later, she founded the Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC)—a pioneering public school on Chicago’s underserved southwest side, rooted in environmental education and social equity. Serving 96% minority students, AGC is preparing the next generation of mindful, globally conscious leaders.

Since its founding in 2008, AGC has become a globally recognized model for holistic education and regenerative community
development. As an international learning laboratory, AGC has trained over 10,000 educators and reached more than five million students worldwide. Sarah Elizabeth also completed a yearlong Entrepreneur in Residence Fellowship with Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, co-authoring the book Reimagine Education: Designing a School to Change the World. She has since launched the AGC Institute, which is actively scaling the organization’s evidence-based model to expand its impact nationally and globally.