Barton Alexander
Ambassador
Bart’s current professional work, largely pro-bono, focuses on the confluence of leadership, climate and the next generation. He believes that the climate crisis persists and is fueled by a crisis of leadership.
Working through organizations including the Harvard Adaptive Leadership Network, Bart organizes group consultations with key players in climate action who face resistance to the work that must be done. He also works with corporate boards pursuing climate strategy through Plan C Advisors. With his spouse, Joan Alexander, he provides a leadership training program — Leading Sustainable Change — to university and non-profit organizations including those working on international development.
Bart came to his current work after a career of leading change from executive positions that spanned the public, non-profit and private sectors. He learned how government works serving in senior roles in federal, state and local governments. Later, he pivoted to promote corporate responsibility for sustainability. As the global chief corporate responsibility officer for a major global brewer, he led the company’s achievement as beverage sector leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and a leader on the Climate Disclosure Project. Bart was named a “Corporate Responsibility Superstar” by Corporate Responsibility Magazine in 2017. In 2019, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for thought leadership in trust from Trust Across America.
Bart has chaired and served on global, national and local NGO boards promoting corporate responsibility, responsible use of alcohol, cross-cultural competency, employment, mediation, reduction of homelessness and youth development.
Bart holds a MSc from the London School of Economics, a BA magna cum laude from Harvard College, and served as a Senior Executive Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He studied corporate social responsibility at the Harvard Business School and leadership at the Whidbey Institute.