ABOUT Betty
I consult with non-profit organizations, individuals, and businesses seeking their highest expression. In communications, executive coaching, human resources, government relations, management, and strategy, I work with clients to identify core values and create pathways to success ethically aligned with those values.
Most recently, I was the Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, supporting tens of thousands of students and young people united to build a more sensible future through drug policies rooted in safety, justice, and education. From 2014 through 2020, I led the organization through its most substantial growth period and left the organization in its most stable and sustainable position in its 22-year history. I honed her servant leadership skills and practices while overseeing development of a groundbreaking peer drug education program; establishment of formal grassroots governance systems; participation in dozens of voter registration, electoral, and legislative campaigns across the US; and expansion of SSDP’s global presence from 4 countries to an all-time high of 44.
From 2009 until 2014, I specialized in community outreach, public relations, advocacy, and policy reform as a consultant to or staffer for cannabis-related businesses and nonprofit organizations. I served as spokesperson and advocacy director for Colorado’s successful 2012 Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the collaborative committee responsible for legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana for adults in Colorado and was the Deputy Director of the National Cannabis Industry Association in 2013, the organization’s fastest year of growth. Prior to my work in marijuana policy and medical cannabis, I was a volunteer leadership professional with some of Denver’s most well-respected nonprofit organizations, ultimately leading a team of 4,000 volunteers who contributed over 40,000 hours of service annually.
My early activism focused on anti-war, anti-apartheid, and environmental issues. Fond childhood memories include attending an annual Easter peace rally at the local nuclear testing facility; I organized my first action at 13, a cleanup day at the local lake attended only by my mom. That action informed my commitment to “failing forward,” an approach which demands taking smart, managed risks and learning everything you can from them whether or not the result is a “success”. As an adult my activism has centered around anti-war efforts; voting and civic engagement; intersectional womens’ issues; and racial, economic, and social justice. Today, my primary issues of concern are ending mass incarceration, engaging citizens in the political process, and building economic justice; I understand that ending the War on Drugs is necessary but insufficient to replace the racist cycle of poverty and criminalization which continue to drive inequality and human rights abuses.