Sally Jewell

Sarah Margaret "Sally" Roffey Jewell (née Roffey; born February 21, 1956) is a British-American business executive and environmentalist who served as the 51st United States secretary of the interior in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017.

Jewell was born in London and moved to the United States at age three. She grew up in the State of Washington and attended the University of Washington. After college, Jewell briefly worked as an oil engineer before transitioning to the banking industry. A position on the board of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), a Seattle-based retailer of outdoor gear, in 1996, eventually led to her becoming the company's chief operating officer, from 2000 to 2005, and then chief executive officer from 2005 to 2013.

Jewell is a lifelong outdoors enthusiast and while at REI became known for her involvement in conservation and environmental protection. These efforts brought her to the attention of the Obama administration, and she was nominated as Secretary of the Interior to succeed Ken Salazar in 2013. Her nomination received substantial bipartisan support and she was handily confirmed by the Senate in April 2013. Jewell is the second woman to hold the position of Secretary of the Interior, after Gale Norton.

Sarah Margaret Roffey was born in London, England, the daughter of Anne (née Murphy) and Peter Roffey. She was three when her family moved to the United States in 1959; her father, an anesthesiologist, took up a fellowship at the University of Washington. Her mother was a nurse practitioner whose specialty was women's health. The Roffey family, including Sally and her three siblings, enjoyed the outdoors, and Sally went sailing and hiking from a young age. A two-week camping trip to teach children ecology inspired her love of the outdoors when she was nine years old. She attended Seattle Country Day School during her elementary years, and in 1973 graduated from Renton High School.

Roffey attended the University of Washington, first planning to become a dental hygienist. She switched to pre-dental at the encouragement of a roommate. After Roffey started dating an engineering student, Warren Jewell, she discovered an aptitude for engineering and changed her major. As an engineering student she worked for General Electric on components for the Alaska Pipeline. In 1978, she received her degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington.

Soon after graduation, Roffey married Jewell. The couple moved to Oklahoma, both having accepted engineering jobs with Mobil.

Sally Jewell worked for Mobil oil company on oil fields in Oklahoma from 1978 through 1981, when she joined Rainier Bank and returned to the Pacific Northwest. Jewell's background was attractive to Rainier Bank, which was considering gas and oil investments and wanted industry engineers to help evaluate possible assets. Jewell advised against investments in oil and gas, and the bank's adoption of this recommendation was good for their business. She stayed with Security Pacific after it acquired Rainier Bank, until 1992. Jewell worked for WestOne Bank from 1992 through 1995, and for Washington Mutual from 1995 through 2000. In total, she worked for nearly 20 years in the banking industry.

In 1996, Jewell joined the board of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI). In 2000 she was named chief operating officer. REI is a retailer of outdoor gear that operates as a member-owned cooperative.

In 2005, she succeeded Dennis Madsen as chief executive officer (CEO). In 2006 Jewell was named Puget Sound Business Journal CEO of the Year. By 2012, Jewell noted that the REI co-op had facilitated 3 million hours of volunteer work in parks and other natural outdoor spaces and spent three percent of its annual profits on outdoor stewardship. During her tenure at REI, annual sales grew from $600 million in 2005 to more than $2 billion in 2015, and the company doubled the number of its retail stores. Jewell remained CEO of REI until she was named Secretary of the Interior in 2013.

While working in the private sector, Jewell became known for her involvement in conservation and environmental protection efforts. Jewell has sat on the boards of Premera, the National Parks Conservation Association, the University of Washington Board of Regents (2001–2013), and the Retail Industry Leaders Association. She helped found the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and served as a board member and president of the group. She started making campaign contributions in 2008, giving almost "solely to Democratic candidates" according to USA Today.

In 2009, Jewell received the National Audubon Society's Rachel Carson Award for her leadership in, and dedication to, conservation. She was also named a 2012 Woman of Distinction from the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, and that same year was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Center's Award for Public Service. That same year, the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust named Jewell to its hall of fame for 21 years of leadership with Greenway Trust, encouraging people to participate in outdoor activities. The University of Washington honored Jewell with its 2016 Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017, the Teton Science Schools, a Wyoming-based non-profit, awarded her the Murie Spirit of Conservation Award recognizing a lifetime achievement in conservation through civil discourse.

Jewell is married to Warren Jewell, also an engineer. They have two adult children: a son, who works as a pediatric intensive care nurse, and a daughter, who works as a revenue agent for the federal government. Both resided in Seattle as of 2013.

In her spare time, Jewell is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys snowboarding, kayaking and mountain climbing. She has climbed Vinson Massif, the highest mountain in Antarctica, Mont Blanc, Western Europe's highest mountain, and has scaled Mount Rainier seven times.