Staff
Sally Bethea is the founding director of Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, a 5,000 member nonprofit environmental advocacy organization established in 1994 whose mission is to protect and restore the Chattahoochee River, its tributaries and watershed. She has a masters degree in city planning from Georgia Tech and thirty years of experience in environmental issues, including work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, and Georgia Conservancy. Sally has served on the boards of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Waterkeeper Alliance, and River Network. She is currently a member of the board of Earth Share of Georgia.
Recognition of Sally’s work includes the 1989 Water Conservationist of the Year Award from the Georgia Wildlife Federation, the 1990 Special Achievement Award from the Georgia Environmental Council, and the 1998 Southern Environmental Leadership Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center. In 1997, Atlanta Magazine honored Sally and Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper as its “Best Eco-Warriors”. In 2001 and 2002, she was named one of the 100 Most Influential Atlantans by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and, in 2003, 2005 and 2006, one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend Magazine. In 2007, she was recognized by American Rivers for her many years of leadership in saving rivers.
Sally is also the proud mother of two sons: Charles, an editor and writer with Outside Magazine, and Robert, a student at the University of Colorado-Boulder
