Public Leadership. Advisory Experience.
I’ve spent my career working where business, government, and community interests meet. Before founding Stewart Collaborative, I led New Hampshire’s Department of Natural & Cultural Resources and co-founded b-fresh consulting, advising national organizations and New Hampshire businesses. Those experiences taught me to look at a challenge from several sides: what a leader hopes to accomplish, what matters to the people affected, and what it will take to earn trust and move forward.
I’m collaborative by instinct and direct in my advice. I listen carefully, ask questions, and help people turn a complicated situation into clear priorities and practical next steps. I enjoy bringing people together around worthwhile ideas and working through the difficult questions with them. Whether I’m advising a leader or guiding a project, I stay involved, communicate candidly, and follow through.
Sarah Stewart
New Hampshire Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
Commissioner · 2018–2026
From 2018 to 2026, I served as Commissioner of New Hampshire's Department of Natural & Cultural Resources, overseeing more than 90 state park properties, state forests and lands, historic preservation, the arts, and the State Library, with an annual department budget of approximately $70 million.
Appointed by Governor Chris Sununu in 2018; reappointed in 2022.
b-fresh consulting
President & Co-Founder · 2008–2018
Before entering state leadership, I co-founded and served as president of b-fresh consulting from 2008 to 2018, advising national organizations and New Hampshire businesses across advocacy, clean energy, conservation, arts, and development.
Earlier Experience
I came to New Hampshire in 1999 to work on John McCain’s first presidential primary campaign. After working for him in Washington, D.C., I returned to New Hampshire to prepare for his 2008 campaign, serving as New Hampshire Deputy Campaign Manager. In the 2012 cycle, I directed Governor Tim Pawlenty’s New Hampshire campaign and then served as Senior Advisor in New Hampshire for Ambassador Jon Huntsman.
Civic Involvement
I serve on the board of Amoskeag Industries and previously served as board chair of Mount Saint Mary Academy and on the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Vermont and am based in Manchester.
I also contribute pro bono to the NH Conversation Project, a new effort to encourage respectful dialogue across differences.
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