Meet Carla
Carla Sands is Vice Chair of the Center for Energy and Environment at the America First Policy Institute. She was appointed to President Trump’s Economic Advisory Council and served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands from 2017-2021.
During her tenure, she and her team increased U.S. exports to Denmark by 45% from $2.17 billion to $3.94 billion according to MIT’s Observatory of Economic Complexity. Ambassador Sands’ top priority was to strengthen U.S. national security by establishing a consulate in Greenland. Through close collaboration with interagency partners and Congress, this goal was successfully achieved in 2020.
She also executed strategic trade and cooperation agreements with Greenland and the Faroe Islands to counter malign Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic. In recognition of her service, Ambassador Sands was awarded the Department of Defense’s highest civilian honor, the Medal for Distinguished Public Service, in 2021.
From 2015-2017, Carla served as Chairman and CEO of Vintage Capital Group and its subsidiary Vintage Real Estate, which specialized in the acquisition and redevelopment of enclosed regional malls and shopping centers across the country. Before an orderly wind-down of the company beginning in 2018, Vintage Real Estate’s portfolio included 13 properties and over 4.3 million square feet of retail space. The firm operated as a vertically integrated team with in-house leasing, development, and property management.
Earlier in her career, Carla worked in television and film acting and practiced as a third-generation Doctor of Chiropractic. She pursued her undergraduate education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Elizabethtown College, where she studied pre-med and earned her Doctor of Chiropractic from Life Chiropractic College.
Carla currently serves as Chairman of The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Advisory Council and sits on the board of the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum. She also serves on the advisory boards of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy and the Independent Women’s Forum.
