Tennessee Chapter Volunteer Engagement Coordinator
Riley Douglas joined the Tennessee Chapter in June of 2026 as our first Volunteer Engagement Coordinator. Learn about Riley in their own words.
Riley Douglas (she/they) was born and raised in sunny South Florida, then spent nine years in urban Chicago during their undergrad at SAIC before landing "halfback" in the South, where they have called Knoxville, Tennessee, home for the last eight years. They live there with their partner and a joyfully full household of three dogs, one cat, and thirteen chickens, and spend their weekends in the garden or out riding bikes with friends.
For over six years, Riley has worked as a community organizer, environmental educator, and artist, bringing people together through craft, ecology, and collective care. They have coordinated thousands of volunteers with local grassroots organizations like Trees Knoxville and Beardsley Community Farm, and spent over four years on food justice work across more than 28 community gardens. Alongside this organizing, Riley's art practice invites folks to get their hands dirty with natural plant dyes, learn the names of plants, and rediscover the natural world as a living, joyful source of connection.
Riley is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Community Development through Future Generations University, studying the SEED-SCALE method, an approach that builds lasting change by growing what already works in a community through local leadership rather than outside solutions. This thinking, shaped by role models like Robin Wall Kimmerer, Douglas Tallamy, Octavia Butler, and Abdullah Öcalan, drives Riley's belief that finding common ground across history and culture is how we root ourselves in collective resilience and justice.
Riley is thrilled to bring that same spirit to the Sierra Club's Tennessee Chapter, excited to support and grow a volunteer network built on the grassroots, community-driven momentum they have spent their career building, with creativity, organizing skill, and grit for the people and places they love.