Buckhead native Sally Bethea has been looking after the Chattahoochee River for the past 20 years.
The founding director of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, a 7,000-plus member nonprofit environmental advocacy organization established in 1994, Bethea plans to retire at the end of this year.
Bethea, a Georgia Tech graduate, began her career in environmental planning working with the Atlanta Chapter of the Sierra Club in the mid-1970s. It was then she realized a passion for protecting nature. What she did not know was that her passion for the Chattahoochee would only strengthen over the years.
In the conversation below, she looks back on her time protecting the river and the legacy she has tried to create.
Q: What drew you to a life dedicated to preserving the Chattahoochee River?
A: I had an interest, a passionate connection, and wanted to get involved with something I felt was meaningful and help give a voice to the voiceless.
Q: What was your path to Chattahoochee Riverkeeper?
A: I really got involved with this work as a volunteer in the 1970s. I got a job with a law firm but I wanted to get involved with the community, so I got involved with the local Sierra Club. From 1978 to 1980 I went to Tech, got some more training, then was invited to be presidential management intern at the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in 1980. In 1993, Laura and Rutherford Seydel wanted to start a Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and I was in the right place at the right time in my early 40s.
Q: What was that right place?
A: I was working for another nonprofit they were involved with, and in 1993 I helped them convene meetings of paddlers, scientists, government representatives and people who just loved the river. I was helping give birth to it while working at another organization, and then I thought to myself, "I really would like to try to lead this and grow this organization." I was able to convince them to hire me and I started March 1, 1994.
Q: What has it been like being the leader of such an organization?
A: It's been quite a ride — peaks, valleys and everything in between. Never a dull moment, ever. Much to celebrate, things to cry over, but along the way it's just given me an opportunity to grow and to learn and to hopefully connect a lot more people to this river, because that's what it's all about. We can't lose this liquid lifeline.
Q: What has been most difficult during the past 20 years?
A: One of the hardest things, I think, is being a woman doing this work. It requires you to be particularly persistent and thorough and communicative, because, as we know, women are treated differently. Over the years I have been called "emotional," "uppity," words that would never be used for a man. You have to push through that, and that's been one of the hardest things to do.
Q: How did you grow from that, and not let it stop you from protecting the river?
A: For the first part of my life, I was a very shy person, but if you believe in something enough, and you have a great group of people around you believing in it, you can learn to stand up for what you believe in a way that your voice is heard, even if you're shaking while you're saying it.
Q: How have you overcome as a woman?
A: I think our track record shows that female leaders can get things done. To a large measure, a female leader who got the city of Atlanta sewer problem handled was (former Mayor) Shirley Franklin. She embraced it in a way she didn't have to.
Q: You saw this organization grow from the beginning. What was that like?
A: Sometimes, I look around and I just remember that first office, which was donated space in a basement with not even a decent phone and an old desk and donated computer from the '70s that never worked. I look around and I think, "Where did all this stuff and all these people come from, how did it happen?"
Q: What are you going to do now that you are retiring?
A: It's hard, but it's been a real pleasure. I was given a gift to be able to do this work by our co-founders. The last 20 years have been spent on my two boys and the river. It's time for some younger folks to take over, with new ideas. Rutherford and Laura gave me the opportunity of a lifetime 20 years ago and I'm helping give Jason (Ulseth) and Juliet (Cohen), who will take over in January, a chance to have the opportunity I've had. I also think I'm looking for a third act, not as many hours every week working, that includes environmental advocacy and teaching and just enjoying life. Fewer emails, too!
