Meet the Board: Sarah Adams
Sarah Adams is a “yellow-loving, warm-tea enthusiast”—but those who know her well recognize her as a thoughtful community builder, cultural advocate, and creative collaborator.
A citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Sarah lives in the Oklahoma City metro and serves as Vice President of Operations for RedLand Sheet Metal, her family’s fabrication business. She is also the co-founder of Matriarch—an intertribal community organization for Indigenous women, Two Spirit, and non-binary relatives and Cousins—an intertribal group for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
At the heart of Sarah’s work is community care. She describes her calling as being a thought partner for other community builders, focusing on Indigenous communities, 2SLGBTQ relatives, civil rights, wellness, and healing. “Centering joy and abundance in my work is foundational to my practice and life,” she says.
For Sarah, Culture Hub fills a vital need for urban Indigenous communities: a place of belonging. She imagines it bustling and alive, filled with laughter and connection—a space where people gather to create, celebrate, mourn, share meals, and care for one another. “A home where the doors are always open. You’ll always be welcome to come as you are,” she says.
Sarah’s journey with culture has been a process of reconnection. Like many Indigenous families, her family’s connection to cultural knowledge was disrupted by the legacy of boarding schools. Later in life, she re-engaged with her Choctaw roots through the Oklahoma Choctaw Tribal Alliance, learning language, beadwork, cooking, regalia making, and teachings about community and reciprocity.
“There is tremendous power in Indigenous people healing together,” Sarah reflects. “What comes from that collective healing can be felt generationally.”
That belief shapes her vision for Culture Hub—a space flexible enough to evolve with the community’s needs. She imagines rooms full of intergenerational relatives, gathering for art, music, cultural learning, celebrations, difficult conversations, food sharing, and collective care. She’s particularly excited to create pathways for people who may not yet see themselves as artists. “Access to cultural arts in an urban area provides protection and a pathway to joy,” she says. “What blooms from joy is different for everyone, and that unknown is very exciting.”
Sarah names the urgent work of today as protecting cultural knowledge, honoring elders’ time, celebrating queer joy, and supporting immigrant communities. And for herself, joy comes in the simple, relational moments: warm tea in yellow Frankoma cups, art supplies scattered on the table, laughter filling the room, and food shared with relatives.
“All flourishing is mutual,” she says, echoing Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer—a guiding principle for how she shows up in community.
And, what a joy it is to have Sarah serving a a member of Culture Hub’s inaugural board of directors.
