Sara Badiali

Sara Badiali is a writer, researcher, consultant, and artist whose work connects reclaimed materials, economic development, and public policy. She explores what becomes possible when communities stop seeing discarded materials as waste and start seeing them as resources for creativity, commerce, and change.

For more than two decades, Sara has worked with communities, policymakers, artists, entrepreneurs, and organizations to turn ideas about reuse into practical programs and local economies. She founded Reclamation Administration, a research and resource platform devoted to building deconstruction, material reuse, and circular economy policy, which she operated from 2011 to 2024.

Her work includes research, policy development, consulting, writing, advocacy, and programs that connect materials with the people who can put them to new use. She has served on the Portland Deconstruction Advisory Group and worked on projects ranging from deconstruction policy and reclaimed material markets to community based reuse initiatives.

Sara holds a Master of Public Administration in Nonprofit Management from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Miami. She also completed Harvard Kennedy School's Leadership for Purposeful Change: Creating Public Value program.

Building It Up: Crafting Circular Economies Through Material Reuse grew from Sara's belief that some of the most valuable resources in a community could be headed for the dump. Her work continues to explore the people, ideas, and unlikely connections that can turn those resources into something greater.

Also by the Author

Breaking It Down: A Comprehensive Guide to Building Deconstruction and Material Reuse Policy

In Breaking It Down, Sara Badiali offers a roadmap for people who want to create building deconstruction and material reuse policies in their own communities. Drawing on her experience helping shape Portland, Oregon's building deconstruction policy, she walks readers through moving from concern to action: finding their motivation, building a coalition, working with government officials, educating the public, and advocating for policies suited to their communities. Part personal journey and part practical guide, the book argues that becoming a policy advocate does not require being an expert. It requires the willingness to see a problem, organize around it, and help create change.