Betsy Reed

Betsy has spent the entirety of her career focused on sustainability – which has seen her working in strategy, public affairs, communications, campaigning and behaviour change with governments, NGOs and businesses, For the past five years, she has run her own consultancy, Big Sky Strategy, working as an independent sustainability advisor to clients in the UK, US and Europe. She helps boards, leaders and teams in a range of areas to define and deliver effective strategies and approaches that grapple effectively with the complexities of social and environmental issues.

Her professional experience across multiple sectors and countries, as well as her background as a campaigner, lobbyist and communications expert, gives her a unique and broad perspective on issues like climate change, circular economy supply chain sustainability and regulation. Past roles include leading Nestle UK’s sustainability public affairs programme, serving as Head of Campaigns for Zero Waste Scotland and working as Director of integrated communications agency Grayling’s sustainability unit. These days, Betsy focuses almost exclusively on working with the private sector, helping her clients find ways to operate more sustainably and create positive change while also ensuring commercial success.

She is regularly invited to speak at and chair events, sits on the Glasgow Caledonian Business School International Business Advisory Group, until recently served as a member of the UK PR Council and is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts (RSA), which brings together Fellows around the world in a network of people focused on enriching society through ideas and action. She is currently writing a book for the UK PR and Communications Association (PRCA) on communicating social and environmental issues effectively, due out in late 2019 (the PRCA is Europe’s biggest PR body). Betsy is both American and British and is based in Barcelona.