Sarah Ellis

Sarah Ellis is a Christian, wife, mother, friend and local business owner among many other roles.  It is central to her home life that her children grow into two young men who understand that women successfully lead in the construction industry and when we help each other, everyone wins. 

From a modest beginnings, Sarah excelled in her first job in the lighting industry thanks to the introduction made by someone whose home she cleaned as a teenager. She taught herself the intricacies of optical and thermal lighting design from conversations with the engineers who sat next to her as she fielded customer service calls.  Inspired by her first office job, she pursued a career in sales & introductions to sales roles were made by the VP of sales. There she excelled for eight years, while raising her young brother and sister. Her second business was an AEC consulting firm where she helped business owners establish successful sales and management practices.  Every step along the way God opened those doors and many people helped make each new chapter possible.

Fast forward to today. Sarah owns and runs, AEC Works, a fast growing Custom Specialty Subcontractor focused in window treatments, furnishings, and art.   She co-created Commercial Real Estate Women of Faith in Atlanta, a 45+ member organization where members provide encouragement and support to each other based on biblical teachings. A wife and mother of two young boys, Sarah also found time to chair the Infrastructure Society Board of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), an 35,000-member organization. It’s efforts, in part, led to the development of the largest data center in the eastern seaboard being built in Atlanta. As Chair Board, Sarah has led the effort to lobby and educate on technology infrastructure and led the launching of TAG Infrastructure Talks Podcast in 2022.  Atlanta's total tech jobs have grown by 46.7 percent since 2010 — almost 20 percentage points above the national average. There are more than 17,000 technology companies – representing an economic impact of $113.1 billion in Georgia and Georgia has the fifth largest IT employment cluster in U.S.

A few years ago, an illustration of social capital for high school students made the rounds of the internet. In a foot race, start distances to the finish line were determined by the amount of social capital inherited at birth; more capital started one closer to the finish line, less capital and you started further away. It raised the question, if a person starts far from the finish line, and a person starts closer to the finish line, is the level of accomplishment the same?  She started the race further back then many but through the help of several pivotal people, she is much closer than she would be to the finish line otherwise.

While great strides have been made in women’s leadership in the construction industry, parity in leadership positions remains elusive. By co-creating Commercial Real Estate Women of Faith, Sarah has developed a forum of support and encouragement where female business leaders learn from each other to lead organizations with a high level of integrity, kindness and generosity. This leadership enhances the day-to-day experience, and careers, of thousands of employees in Atlanta.