Staff

Dedee DeLongpré Johnston founded the Office of Sustainability in 2009 and has enjoyed working with students, faculty, and staff colleagues over the years to develop and implement the sustainable organizational strategy that resulted in a STARS Gold rating in 2018. DeLongpré Johnston also led the Human Resources function at the university from April 2020 to January 2024. She has taught a range of undergraduate and graduate courses in leadership and sustainability at Wake Forest and at the University of Florida, where she led the first campuswide office of sustainability. She holds a BS in business administration from the University of Southern California with a concentration in entrepreneurial studies and an MBA with an emphasis in sustainable management from the Presidio Graduate School. DeLongpré Johnston served on the founding board of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), Aramark’s Sustainable Sourcing Advisory Council and, closer to home, on the boards of the Piedmont Environmental Alliance, a/perture cinema, the Women’s Fund of Winston-Salem, and W-S Lacrosse.

In her role as Assistant Director for Sustainability Strategy, Erin Stephens (‘18) supports Wake Forest in reaching its sustainability goals by facilitating strategic planning and stakeholder engagement processes that integrate sustainability solutions into all areas of campus operations and culture. She works closely with campus partners to further the university’s climate action and resilience plans and leads the office’s communications strategy. Erin is an alumna of Wake Forest, where she received her bachelor’s degree in communication with minors in journalism and entrepreneurship. She first joined the Office of Sustainability team as the Communications & Event Coordinator from 2018 – 2020. She then became a producer for interview-based podcasts covering international freshwater issues and Indigenous health affairs for First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada. Now back home in North Carolina and at her alma mater, Erin is excited to lead the strategic direction for sustainability at Wake Forest in collaboration with partners across campus.

Krista Stump is the Engaged and Experiential Learning for Sustainability Manager. In this role, she facilitates opportunities for faculty of all ranks and disciplines to develop campus-based interdisciplinary problem-based learning opportunities. Krista connects faculty, students, and campus partners to sustainability challenges on campus with the goal of fostering complex systems thinking and interdisciplinary problem solving skills among students. She comes to Wake Forest with 5 years of experience at the University of Florida as a Natural Resources Extension Faculty member in Osceola County, FL. In this role she developed curricula and taught sustainability education programs including workshops, seminars, videos, fact sheets, articles, and exhibits to community members of all ages. Krista received her BS in chemical engineering and her Master’s in environmental and ecological engineering from Purdue University. 

Jay Sauerman is the Communications & Events Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability and Human Resources. In her role with the OoS, Jay provides support for the planning, development, and execution of campus-wide sustainability events, internal and external communications, and social media strategies. Jay first joined Wake Forest in 2021 as the Marketing Manager for 88.5 WFDD, and she actively volunteers on-campus and in the Winston-Salem community as the Marketing Chair for WFQ, Wake Forest University’s Queer Affinity Group. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Susquehanna University, with dual degrees in Creative Writing and Editing & Publishing.

Sarah Rodgers is the Outdoor Learning Spaces Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability. In this role, Sarah works in close collaboration with campus partners and subject matter experts to develop spaces for sustainability-focused learning on Wake Forest’s campus. Drawing on her horticultural knowledge and experience, Sarah maintains existing learning spaces, such as the Campus Garden, and works with faculty and staff partners to develop new outdoor spaces that offer opportunities for campus-based learning, engagement, and research for sustainability. Sarah moved to Winston-Salem from Missoula, Montana, where she was a school garden manager and farm-based educator. She earned a BA in environmental studies from Saint Michael’s College, where she focused on justice and sustainability, and a master’s in environmental studies from the University of Montana.