Sarah Backstrand

Policy research, advocacy, and grant development for organizations working on natural resource governance, critical minerals, and the energy transition.

About

The clean energy transition depends on minerals like cobalt, copper, and lithium, but the people who mine them are too often left out of the conversations that shape their lives.

I'm a researcher and fundraiser focused on resource governance and artisanal and small-scale mining. For my master’s at the University of Michigan, I led the thematic analysis of interviews with artisanal cobalt and copper miners in Kolwezi, DRC, working with Dr. Brandon Finn and fieldwork researcher Espérant Mwishamali Lukobo, examining what those miners told us about labor, displacement, and legitimacy in the supply chains that run through their communities. That research is published in Energy Research & Social Science. I've also worked on formalization policy for gold mining in the Amazon Basin with the U.S. State Department, critical-minerals policy briefs with the National Wildlife Federation, and an international ASM research synthesis convened through the University of Notre Dame. This is a project I've now joined formally as a research assistant with Prof. Arun Agrawal at Notre Dame's Pulte Institute for Global Development.

Before graduate school, I spent over four years at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) in New York and London. I coordinated proposals that helped secure more than $2.1 million from climate and governance foundations, funding energy-transition and anti-corruption programs across 19 countries. I also chaired NRGI's global DEI Action Group. In 2026, I returned to NRGI as a consultant supporting the fundraising team.

I care about this work because good governance is what decides whether the energy transition is just or simply extractive by another name. I'm currently open to consultancy, fundraising, research, and advocacy work.

I split my time between the US and the UK.

Grant writing and proposals
I write proposals, concept notes, and reports for funders. At NRGI I spent four years coordinating proposals to climate and governance foundations, which together raised over $2.1 million for programs in 19 countries.

Research on artisanal mining and critical minerals
Policy analysis, literature reviews, comparative regulatory research, and qualitative work on artisanal and small-scale mining and critical mineral supply chains. I led the thematic analysis for our paper on artisanal cobalt mining in Kolwezi, published in Energy Research & Social Science, and co-authored a set of briefs for the National Wildlife Federation comparing U.S. mining regulation to IRMA standards.

Donor research and landscape scoping
If your team is trying to understand who funds your issue area, I can map which funders are active, what they've supported recently, and where your work might fit.

I'm currently a research assistant at Notre Dame's Pulte Institute for Global Development and a fundraising consultant with NRGI, and I'm open to additional consultancy, research, and advocacy work.


Portfolio

2026 · BLOG

What I learned during my year as a Tandana Board Fellow

Reflections on nonprofit governance, individual-donor fundraising, and relationship-first development, from a year on the Board of Trustees.

The Tandana Foundation

2026 · PAPER

Transformative Cohabitation: Rethinking Artisanal Mining Governance in the DRC

Co-authored with Dr. Brandon Finn and Espérant Mwishamali Lukobo, who conducted the fieldwork interviews in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba, DRC. I led the thematic analysis of the interview transcripts.

Energy Research & Social Science

2026 · POLICY

Critical Minerals Policy Toolkit

Co-authored policy briefs comparing U.S. mining regulations to IRMA international standards.

National Wildlife Federation

2025 · RESEARCH

Illegal Gold Mining Formalization in the Amazon Basin

Policy and financial analysis for the State Department Diplomacy Lab, reframing formalization as a financial inclusion challenge.

U.S. Department of State

2023 · BLOG

The Journey Continues: Progress and Learning on DEI at NRGI

Co-authored with CEO Suneeta Kaimal.

Natural Resource Governance Institute

2022 · BLOG

From the Inside Out: Stepping Up on DEI

Reflecting on NRGI's first year of internal DEI work.

Natural Resource Governance Institute


Experience

2026

Fundraising Consultant

Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI)

Working with Prof. Arun Agrawal on a global synthesis of research on artisanal and small-scale mining, including a cross-country ASM database and a coordinated special issue (August–November 2026).

2026

Research Assistant

Pulte Institute for Global Development, University of Notre Dame

Supporting NRGI's fundraising team with proposal development, donor research and reporting, and the rollout of a new CRM (July–December 2026).

2025 - 2026

Dow Sustainability Fellow

National Wildlife Federation

Co-authored a policy toolkit comparing U.S. critical mineral mining regulations to international best practices.

2025 - 2026

Diplomacy Lab Researcher

U.S. Department of State

Analyzed gold mining formalization policy across the Amazon Basin.

2025 - 2026

Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellow

The Tandana Foundation

Served as a nonvoting trustee through Michigan Ross Business+Impact. Supported prospect research with the Development Committee and student outreach across three U-M schools.

2025

Graduate Research Intern

Center for Global Health Equity, University of Michigan

Analyzed interviews with artisanal miners in Kolwezi, DRC. Co-authored a paper on "transformative cohabitation."

2021 - 2024

Fundraising Associate & DEI Chair

Natural Resource Governance Institute

Led grant processes for climate foundations across 19 countries. Chaired the global DEI Action Group.

2019 - 2021

Program & Admin Assistant

NRGI

Supported senior management and board operations. Founded the Ways of Working Committee.

2017 - 2019

Research Assistant & Consultant

Bioversity International

Research on climate change and food security in Uganda, Malaysia, and Italy.


Education

MS Environmental Policy

University of Michigan · 2026

Thesis on price manipulation in artisanal cobalt mining. Coursework in environmental economics, energy markets, qualitative methods.

Dow Fellow · CEW+ Towsley Scholar · Bierbaum Award · Cain Award

BA Environmental Policy

Colby College · 2018 · Minor in Anthropology

Cole Research Fellowship studying climate change effects on smallholder farmers in Uganda. Semester in France.

Cole Research Fellow


Speaking

The Sidebar at UN General Assembly & New York Climate Week 2026

Mines, Miners and the Energy Transition: Who pays the price for critical minerals?

Discussion leader, with Mario Picon (Governance Action Hub) and Kevin Melton (Pax Strategies). The session asked what responsible sourcing means on the ground when a supply chain begins with informal labour. I spoke from the miners' side, drawing on our interviews in Kolwezi: what artisanal miners asked for, what the frameworks miss, and why the price of the energy transition gets set at a buying-house scale that no audit reaches.

The Green Economy Cannot Reproduce the Old One: It Must Work for Everyone

Discussion leader, with Joshua Kaluwasha (Embassy of Zambia) and Mario Picon (Governance Action Hub). A cross-sector conversation on whether the green economy can avoid repeating the extractive logic of the one it replaces. My part was the mining and community end: what accountability looks like when it reaches the artisanal miner rather than stopping at the company.

The Environmental Justice Lab Podcast

The Green Transition Has a Cost: Environmental Justice Crisis in the Congo

Guest, alongside Fr. Dr. Toussaint Kafarhire, hosted by Dr. Lesley Joseph. A conversation about the DRC's long history of extraction, from rubber and uranium to cobalt, and about listening to artisanal miners and affected communities as experts in their own lives. The episode draws on our paper in Energy Research and Social Science.


Media Mentions

Michigan Daily

U-M study looks at history of DRC to understand how decarbonization strategies perpetuate inequalities

“I think that we absolutely need to decarbonize quickly,” Backstrand said. “It’s urgent. There’s no question about that. But it cannot be at the expense of vulnerable communities, especially in regions that have been colonized and have been subject to colonial systems and the harms associated with resource extraction for centuries.”

World Bank lead mining specialist Boubacar Bocoum discusses the geopolitics of critical mining

“Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is very stigmatized, and there’s a one-size-fits-all solution that’s put forth to formalize that sector. And while there are a lot of issues associated with ASM, resource wealth tends to circulate more within the community of ASM (compared to large-scale mining). So while resource wealth from big mining companies tends to be concentrated in the hands of the elite, for ASM, more wealth is circulated within communities.” -Backstrand

CONTACT

Working together

I'm available for the consulting work described above. Get in touch and we can figure out whether it's a fit.

Roles

I'm also looking for policy, research, and advocacy positions in natural resource governance and critical minerals, with grant development and programmatic fundraising as a lane I know well. I'm a US citizen eligible for the UK High Potential Individual visa and I'm relocating to London in October 2026.

EMAIL: sbacks@sarahbackstrand.com

LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/in/sarah-backstrand

SUBSTACK: sarahbackstrand.substack.com