Sara Egan

Background

About Sara Egan

Sara Egan is the Director of Conservation Planning at Openlands, where she advances strategic planning initiatives to expand protected lands, enhance regional trail and waterway connectivity, promote equitable access to open space, and support resilient, nature-based communities. Guided by a belief that thriving communities are rooted in a healthy relationship with the land, Sara’s work bridges the disciplines of planning and landscape architecture to foster collaboration across sectors and scales.Prior to joining Openlands, Sara served as a Principal at Design Workshop, leading projects focused on parks, greenways, land conservation, public realm design, and community-driven planning throughout the country. She also served as an adjunct professor in the Master of City Design Program at the University of Illinois Chicago, where she mentored the next generation of urban thinkers committed to environmental and social equity.Sara is a certified planner (AICP) and a licensed landscape architect with a commitment to inclusive, interdisciplinary approaches to land use and conservation. She holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is an active member of the Chicago Chapter of Lambda Alpha International.