Betsy Cantwell

Betsy Cantwell is President at GoRail, a national nonprofit that works with community leaders across the country to share the local benefits of freight rail with policymakers in Washington. Since joining GoRail in 2015, Betsy has led the organization’s advocacy and communications strategy to build public and political support for policies that enable robust private investment in freight rail.

Her work spans earned media, digital campaigns, grassroots mobilization and message development, aimed at making freight rail policy accessible and compelling to the communities it impacts most.

Betsy has played a key role in evolving GoRail and expanding its reach across local and national audiences, including the launch of the Rail Champions grassroots program empowering citizen advocates to speak up on federal rail issues. In recent years, she launched GoRail's grant education initiative and greatly expanded GoRail's webinar programming, both aimed at supporting and building relationships with community leaders and rail advocates.

Before GoRail, Betsy was assistant director of public affairs at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs where she managed the school’s educational events, digital communications, and media outreach.

Betsy holds a B.A. in political communication and an M.A. in global communication (public diplomacy) from George Washington University. She is also a member of the League of Railway Women.

After many years living in the DC region, Betsy now resides in her home state of New Jersey with her husband and two sons, where they have fun exploring the outdoors and playing with trains. In her (limited) spare time, Betsy enjoys running, drawing, discussing books in her book club, and collecting Nickel Plate Road memorabilia.