Sara Lister thinks kids are much more fun to be around than adults, and she should know.
While Lister’s world was once all about raising money for political candidates, now she oversees such tasks as delivering puppies — and the occasional lizard — to ill children as she works from an office with balloons and free toys.
Lister is the president and CEO of Make-A-Wish New Mexico, her dream job because she has loved children since her earliest babysitting days.
“I’ve always had a passion for kids, particularly children with vulnerabilities,” Lister says.
Lister’s sojourn in politics started by working for then-U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, a longtime Republican from New Mexico. She also worked on President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign and started a political consulting and fundraising firm in New Mexico and Washington, D.C.
She got burned out, though, and decided to take a break by temporarily moving to China to reconnect with a special-needs teenager she had met in a foster home on a previous church trip.
“She is one of the most incredible human beings I’ve ever met,” Lister says. “She is completely blind and has been since birth. She deals with an immense amount of problems, but she’s wicked smart.”
Once Lister returned home, she decided to make use of her fundraising skills and became development director for various University of New Mexico entities, including the UNM Foundation and the cancer center.
Lister says the business skills required at Make-A-Wish are similar to those of her previous positions, with one big difference: the heartbreak of working with kids who have a critical illness and don’t always survive.
“There are times when we are truly dealing with life and death in our work, so that’s a whole different level of having a bad day at work,” Lister says. “I get asked, ‘Do you cry all the time at work?’ My answer is, ‘No.’ There is a lot of crying here, but more often than not it is crying happy tears and not sad tears.”
Is there a particular wish you granted that stands out?
“There are so many. There certainly have been ones where there’s been something extra that happened. During the pandemic, a little boy wanted a puppy — a light-colored goldendoodle. We were limited in our ability to get dogs because of the pandemic. Danielle (Rodriguez, director of mission delivery) was on the phone with the chapter in Syracuse (New York) and they had a puppy … that was exactly what our child asked for. Danielle flew to New York, picked up Archie — that’s the puppy — and we actually did a whole social media campaign following her journey to pick him and bring him home. We ended up doing a drive-by parade for Mikey (Neidigk), who didn’t know he was getting his puppy that day. Dozens and dozens of cars (were involved) and people dressed up as Spider-Man because he loves Spider-Man. It was just really fun to see that magic in a time where everybody was so isolated.”
How do you spend your free time?
“I spend a lot of free time with my nieces and nephews, although they’re getting older. They don’t have as much time for me anymore. Everyone who knows me will tell you that I’m obsessed with my English bulldog. Her name is Windsor, for the House of Windsor (in England), but we call her Winnie. For whatever reason, my whole life I’ve always wanted a bulldog. I went to Albuquerque High, and that’s the mascot, so people wonder if it’s that. But I actually think it came from my granny. Her high school mascot was also a bulldog, and she had these two little bulldog figurines sitting on a shelf. When she passed away, I actually got those, so they’re in my house now. I just decided I have got to find a bulldog. They have the funniest personalities. Winnie talks constantly, and she sounds like Chewbacca.”
Why the House of Windsor?
“I’m a huge Anglophile. I’ve just always been fascinated by the monarchy because in my mind, I should be a princess. I was probably about 4 when Charles and Diana got married, and I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch it with my mom. And my fascination with the queen just grew as I got older. I’m actually going to the Jubilee (in London) in June for the (70th) anniversary of the reign. We’ll see what that’s going to be like.”
How did you get involved in politics?
“I was always really fascinated, when I was younger, with government and with politics, for whatever reason. I met Sen. Domenici when I was 12 years old at a Dukes baseball game, back when they were still called the Dukes. What 12-year-old knows who their U.S. senator is? But I did, and I went up to him and asked him for his autograph and told him that I wanted to work for him one day. He told me, ‘When you’re old enough, call and you can.’ When I went to college, my university had a program where you could intern in D.C. for a semester and take classes at Georgetown. So I reached out to Sen. Domenici’s office, and I became an intern for that semester. He would have told you that he remembered meeting me, but he probably didn’t. He hired me when I graduated, and I moved back to D.C. and worked for him until he retired 10 years later.”
What’s your most embarrassing moment?
“I have an aunt (who) worked … for the National Security Council. I was living in D.C., and she invited me to come have lunch with her at the White House. It was a rainy day, so I go to the check-in gate and I have my purse with me, and I have a Christmas present for her and I have an umbrella, so my hands are full. And I’m dressed nicely, because I’m going to the White House. When you’re going to meet somebody in the West Wing, you walk past where all the reporters and their cameras are, you go down this flight of stairs. I can be clumsy. I hit one of the stairs, and you know how you feel yourself falling? And so I tried to catch myself, and I didn’t. I fell down the entire flight of stairs. And I mean I rolled down the stairs. I’m in shock … and I hear several voices screaming at me, ‘Ma’am, are you OK?” This NBC cameraman comes running up to me and then a Secret Service agent, and I’m just trying to make sure my dress is pulled down. They help me up, and I’m completely wet on one-half of my body. I always joke that I must be on some sort of blooper reel at the White House. I bruised my elbow and had a few scratches, but my pride was what was hurt the most.”
THE BASICS: Sara Lyn Lister, 45, born in San Antonio, Texas; five nieces and nephews, six godchildren; one pet, Winnie, an English bulldog; bachelor’s in political science, Valparaiso University, 1999.
POSITIONS: President and CEO, Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Mexico, since 2018; senior development director, University of New Mexico Cancer Center, UNM College of Nursing, UNM Foundation, 2014-2018; senior vice-president, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, 2014; executive director, New Mexico Competes, 2013; deputy cabinet secretary, state Department of Workforce Solutions, 2011-2013; senior adviser to Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, 2009-2011; partner, F/L Consulting, 2003-09; various positions on political campaigns, 2000-2008.
OTHER: Board member, Valparaiso University Alumni Association; Sunday School teacher and community service volunteer, Sagebrush Church.
