Sarah Dennis Phillips

Building on 14 years of prior civil service with the City and County of San Francisco, Sarah Dennis Phillips is the Executive Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

A trained urban planner, Sarah began her California career in downtown revitalization, working to build thriving downtowns in Mountain View, Livermore, Redwood City, and other northern California cities. Sarah’s service to the City of San Francisco started in 2005, first in the Planning Department before moving to OEWD as Deputy Director of Development. In 2019, Sarah transitioned to the private sector, joining the San Francisco offices of Tishman Speyer, where she led development and placemaking efforts creating urban neighborhoods with high levels of affordability, public space, and transit.

Sarah holds degrees in urban planning and design from the University of Virginia and Harvard University. She is a member of SPUR’s San Francisco Board of Directors, serves on the Urban Land Institute’s San Francisco Commercial Advisory Committee, and is a member of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the Housing Action Coalition, and Lambda Alpha’s Golden Gate chapter.