Sachem Alum Amy Engel Talks About New Post at Sustainable LI

Amy Engel’s love of making a difference in people’s communities started with her foundational development in the Sachem Central School District.

Engel, who graduated from Sachem in 1990 and continues to raise her family in Holtsville today, credits past Sachem educators like William Hettrich and Barbara Macadorie as key figures in her growth.

“I learned about being active and making a difference and that has stayed with me my whole career,” said Engel, who last month took over as the Executive Director of Sustainable Long Island, which promotes the concept of sustainable development through economic growth that aims to protect Long Island’s diverse people and resources.

Engel recently came from the Suffolk County Executive Office as a Senior Management Analyst for the Executive Budget Office and as the County Executive Assistant to the Chief Deputy County Executive. There, working with Sachem alum and County Executive Steve Levy, Engel was responsible for researching policy directives and preparing cost benefit analyses for new initiatives, writing, monitoring, and approving requisitions, contracts, conferences, transfers, grant appropriations, and collaborating on development of the Operating and Capital budgets.

“Amy has the combination of skills, experience, and dedication to lead Sustainable Long Island in advancing economic development, environmental health, and social equity across the region” said Ruth Negron-Gaines, Sustainable Long Island Board President, in a statement. “We are thrilled to have such a capable and deeply committed Executive Director moving us forward as the premier community planning organization on Long Island.”

Prior to her employment at the County, Engel held positions including being Consultant of Community Development for the KeySpan Corporation, the Executive Director of the Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition, and the Deputy Director of Government Affairs with the Long Island Association. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Dowling College and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

She said her first involvement in community activism came when she was a girl scout and her troop, along with other organizations in the community, spoke out against making the Holtsville Ecology Center a garbage dump again after the landfull originally closed in 1974. They helped start the “dump the dump” campaign.

“It came about by grassroots action that people said, ‘no,’” she said. “'We don’t want a dump here.' I remember as a girl scout, putting woodchips down and being a part of that. When I take my kids to the Holtsville Ecology site I feel really proud of that.”

Engel is thrilled with the opportunity to turn to a new chapter in her career.

“This is the culmination of everything I’ve worked for,” she said. “The environment and health aspect I can build upon. Economic development. Community revitalization. I’m looking forward to pursing more. I love that sustainable gets right into the nitty gritty. We do grassroots and make sure that everybody gets to the table.

“We’ll roll up our sleeves and get down and work with everybody. I love that I can be part of an organization that makes a difference to everyday people. I try to do it in every aspect of my life and those roots started in Sachem.”