Draft:Betsy Taylor

Betsy Taylor (born 1954) is an American leader in the environmental, social change, and philanthropic sectors. Taylor has been a leader in the fields of regenerative agriculture, sustainable consumption, the anti-nuclear movement, and nature-based solutions to climate change.

According to environmentalist and writer Bill McKibben, "No one has done a savvier job of bringing different parts of the climate movement together for success and impact. Betsy Taylor has played a vital role as a donor adviser, strategist, and convener of leaders.”

Early life and education
Betsy Taylor was born on November 16, 1954 in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in Rising Sun, Maryland, a small and rural farming community.

Taylor earned a B.A. in psychology from Duke University in 1976. Taylor’s political activism began at Duke when she got involved with a student movement to save the Duke School of Forestry.

Taylor received a Master of Public Administration focused on national security from Harvard University' s Kennedy School in 1986.

Career highlights
Regenerative agriculture

Betsy Taylor was an early leader and philanthropic adviser in the field of regenerative agriculture. In 2017, Taylor chaired and led "Sequestering Carbon in Soil: Addressing the Climate Threat," a conference of over 200 scientists, farmers, investors, and government officials in Chantilly, France. According to Jenny Moffitt, former California Deputy Secretary of Food in Agriculture, "Betsy Taylor has been key to our work to advance soil carbon sequestration in partnership with France. The international and state-based leadership networks supported by Betsy have been crucial for knowledge sharing and relationship building."

Other leadership

Taylor currently chairs Dr. James Hansen's Climate Science, Awareness, and Solutions nonprofit and the Volgenau Climate Initiative. She is also on the advisory boards of Daughters for Earth and the Savanna Institute. She has held numerous other past board memberships.

Taylor has directed various philanthropic foundations and nonprofits focused on peace, justice, clean energy and the environment. She was president of a small consulting firm, Breakthrough Strategies and Solutions for over a decade. She served as executive director of the Nuclear Information & Resource Service, deputy director of Freeze Voter 1984 , executive director of Center for a New American Dream (later renamed New Dream), and president of 1Sky.

In 2000 and 2001, Taylor co-convened two responsible purchasing conferences in partnership with the George W. Bush and then Bill Clinton White House Environmental Executives. These conferences helped lead to the launch of the Responsible Purchasing Network.

Taylor helped launch the Iraq Peace Fund in 2003, working to rapidly deploy funds to peace efforts and worldwide protests dedicated to preventing the US invasion of Iraq.

From 2011 to 2014, Taylor led a formation of over 150 Democratic political donors who advocated and organized for bold climate solutions and a more effective communications effort on climate change by the Obama Administration.

From 2012 to 2016, Taylor convened diverse leaders from the public and private sectors – the Young Climate Leaders Network – to advance strategy and deeper collaborative relationships. The Sunrise Movement emerged in part from these gatherings.

Public Speaking and Appearances
Taylor has spoken at numerous conferences and events, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon,  Forum on Carbon Removal as a Climate Solution , American Climate Leadership Summit , and Navigating the Polycrisis.

She has appeared on CBS This Morning, CNN's Crossfire , and other media outlets.

Personal life
Taylor currently resides on a 20-acre homestead in Vermont. She is an avid gardener and works to propagate native plants to sequester carbon and support pollinators. Taylor is married and the has two children and one grandchild. She attends Middlebury Friends Meeting.

Books and interviews
Books
 * The Consumer Society Reader (2000). Taylor is a contributing author to this collection .
 * What Kids Really Want That Money Can’t Buy: Tips for Parenting in a Commercial World (2003). Taylor is the author.
 * More Fun, Less Stuff Starter Kit (2001). Taylor is the author.


 * Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the Twenty-first Century (2003). Taylor is a co-editor and contributing author, alongside Juliet Schor.

Interviews
 * “What Could Possibly Go Right?” (Resilience.org, 2022)
 * “Betsy Taylor: Finding Hope in Nature-Based Solutions” (The Great Simplification, 2022)
 * "Soil and Spirit" (Climate Seasons podcast, 2019)
 * "Forum on Climate Removal as a Climate Solution" (World Resources Institute, 2018)
 * “Democratic Donors Withhold Contributions over Absence of Climate Change from Obama Campaign Message” (Democracy Now!, 2012)
 * “Ads, Kids and the Nag Factor” (CBS News, 1999)