Dr. Betsy Johnston is an Associate with Action Learning Associates (ALA) and joined ALA in 2014 after working for over 25 years in experiential education, training, and leadership development. With a passion for hands-on learning, Betsy serves as the Professional Development & Training Manager at Montana State University in Bozeman. There she designs and delivers capacity building programs for professional and classified staff, including management development and financial development certificates, team building, customized retreats and facilitated sessions for departments and units, a monthly lunch and learn series, and a Service Excellence initiative for all faculty staff.

Leadership Development: Betsy especially enjoys working with teams and leaders in their discovery of their own styles and effectiveness. She has worked with organizations including Outward Bound and Organizational Wide Leadership Solutions and others to provide learning opportunities. She has an ongoing involvement with Leadership MSU, Leadership Bozeman and Leadership Montana. She taught an undergraduate leadership seminar at Montana State and provides the hands-on learning labs for the leadership program at MSU.

Conflict Resolution: As a certified mediator in the state of Montana, Betsy has been involved with mediation and conflict resolution throughout her professional experiences with non-profits, corporations, and higher education institutions. Betsy implemented the first restorative youth justice program in Bozeman, providing program coordination, training and facilitation to community volunteers working alongside youth offenders and their families. She is an experienced mediator for small business issues, community conflicts, justice court and dissolution of marriage. Betsy recently traveled to Rwanda to deliver conflict resolution training with the United States Institute of Peace. Closer to home, Betsy facilitated a working session with the University president and her cabinet to apply conflict resolution skills to the everyday campus workplace.

Human Resources: Betsy is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and brings a wealth of knowledge of HR processes, legal issues, managing human capitol, and organizational development to her work with Action Learning. Betsy views performance assessment, feedback and coaching as key elements to the development of effective leadership and teams.

Ethics: Dr. Webb’s 2014 dissertation was titled, “What is Good and What is Right: The Outcomes of a Comprehensive Ethics Program in Municipal Government,” and has led to several speaking engagements and consulting opportunities with government agencies and higher education institutions. Betsy has worked with the City of Bozeman for over five years developing a comprehensive ethics program, measuring the outcomes, and working with the City’s High Performance Organization Team to respond to areas for strengthening. Betsy’s study revealed that ethical leadership and role modeling are the most significant predictors of ethical climate within an organization.

Betsy hand-picked her home base in Bozeman, Montana for its outstanding outdoor recreational activities including hiking, biking, nordic and downhill skiing, rock climbing, and soaking in natural hot springs. Her three children all engage in outdoor adventures and share Betsy’s strong commitment to global social justice.