Barrett specializes in leadership and change management for sustainability. For the past two years at the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative, he served on the core team to design and execute large-scale multi-stakeholder initiatives that mainstream sustainability into global supply chains. This involved building learning systems within entire sectors and driving cross-organizational alignment and innovation amongst multinational corporations, governments in the North and South, and international NGOs.

He has worked on four continents, helped develop and launch a dozen companies, consultancies, and NGOs, built corporate universities, coached senior executives, and delivered leadership initiatives for Global 1000 leaders. Barrett held UN consultative status for four years, and has presented widely, including at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (side event), US State Department, UNDP headquarters, International Cocoa Organization, and the Bioneers conference.

He is an advisory board member for: US-based Kosmos Journal, an integrally informed journal on global issues; the Australian-based Shift Foundation, which develops emerging global leaders; and Canadian-based IntegralCity.com, focusing on urban sustainability issues. His sustainability writings are used in universities in North America and Europe as well as in the UN system.

Barrett has also used his fluency in Spanish and Portuguese to translate several business books and lecture on leadership. Barrett's undergraduate studies are in Mechanical Engineering and English Literature through the University of California at Santa Cruz.

His Ph.D. and Master's degrees are in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University. Barrett's recent doctoral research explored how sustainability leaders with complex worldviews engage in change initiatives.