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Sarah Margaret "Sally" Roffey Jewell (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.
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.
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. Executive of the Year 2006, CEO Sally Jewell, Puget Sound Business Journal, December 24, 2006 By 2012, Jewell noted that the REI co-op had facilitated 3million 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 $2billion 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.
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.
Expanding access to parks was a feature of many initiatives Jewell undertook as secretary. A 2014 Secretarial Order set benchmarks to increase youth involvement, seeking to create opportunities for young people to play, learn, serve, and work in . Jewell led the kickoff of the Every Kid Every Park program by leading fourth graders on a hike through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The Every Kid initiative made every fourth grade student, and their families, eligible for a free one-year pass to every national park. Jewell also backed a 2016 initiative to expedite permitting for youth organizations to explore public wildlands on overnight or multi-day trips, particularly in less popular parks.
On August 28, 2015, Jewell used her authority as Secretary to rename the tallest mountain in North America Denali. The United States federal government had adopted the name Mount McKinley for the peak in 1917 although the Koyukon, a group native to Alaska, had traditionally called the peak Denali. President Obama supported Jewell's decision to change the name.
As Secretary, Jewell approved the first phase of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP). The DRECP focuses on renewable energy and land conservation in California's desert. At the signing ceremony, held September 16, 2016, at the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center, Secretary Jewell stated phase one was intended to streamline approval for solar, wind, and geothermal projects. The DRECP also aimed to preserve 4.2million acres of land. Conservation groups viewed the initiative more favorably than did wind and solar developers, who criticized the DRECP for removing some public land designated for development.
Jewell was the 51st Secretary of the Interior, and the second woman to hold the position. Unlike many of her predecessors, Jewell never held elected office. Because she acquired her U.S. citizenship by naturalization rather than being a natural-born citizen, Jewell was not eligible to hold a place within the presidential line of succession.
In 2015, Jewell was selected as the ship's sponsor for USS Montana (SSN-794). She christened the vessel 12 September 2020 at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding amid a virtual ceremony because of restrictions due to COVID.
In her spare time, Jewell enjoys snowboarding and kayaking. She also enjoys mountain climbing, and has climbed Vinson Massif, the highest mountain in Antarctica, and Mont Blanc, Western Europe's highest mountain, and has scaled Mount Rainier seven times. She is an overall outdoor enthusiast.
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Categories: 1956 Births, 20th-century American Businesspeople, 20th-century American Businesswomen, 20th-century American Women Engineers, 20th-century American Engineers, 21st-century American Women Politicians, 21st-century American Businesswomen, 21st-century American Businesspeople, 21st-century American Politicians, American Businesspeople In Online Retailing, American Chief Operating Officers, American Retail Chief Executives, American Women Chief Executives, Businesspeople From Seattle, English Emigrants To The United States, Female Interior Ministers, Living People, Obama Administration Cabinet Members, Politicians From Seattle, Recreational Equipment, Inc., United States Secretaries Of The Interior, University Of Washington College Of Engineering Alumni, Washington Democrats, Women Members Of The Cabinet Of The United States
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