Betsy Fretwell

Betsy has over 30 years of experience working in leadership roles in both the public and private sectors in Southern Nevada. Her wide-ranging experiences as a public-sector CEO/City Manager and as a private sector executive notably position her to provide valuable leadership in a variety of settings. She has a unique understanding of the intersection of government and private sector activities. She is widely recognized as a business, community and civic leader and has served in a variety of leadership roles on non- profit boards in Southern Nevada and served on State appointed committees. Most recently, Fretwell served as Interim CEO of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance. LVGEA is the public-private partnership organization leading the regions economic development efforts. Prior to joining the LVGEA, Betsy also served as COO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Betsy leads the company she founded, C4WARD STRATEGIES LTD, an independent consulting firm, specializing in management, government, and technology consulting, executive development, business development, program management and strategic advisory services. She worked for Switch (an IT infrastructure ecosystem and data center company) for over 5 years. Betsy served as Executive Vice President of Strategy leading efforts in government affairs, public sector business development, mergers and acquisitions, strategic initiatives, real estate, entitlements and land development, and emerging technologies. Prior to working for Switch, Betsy retired from the City of Las Vegas, the nation’s 25th largest city, after 17 years and served as the second-longest serving City Manager in the city’s history, from 2009 to 2017. As a nationally recognized leader, she oversaw a complex organization of more than 3,300 employees with a $1.3B annual budget.  Under Fretwell’s leadership, the city built a new City Hall, attracted the corporate headquarters of Zappos.com, Inc. to downtown, completed The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, completed the MOB museum, and attracted the new UNLV Medical School to the City’s Medical District. Fretwell is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration. She completed the Harvard University Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program in 2007. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.