Sabrina Cohen-Hatton – senior female firefighter

Firefighter, Behavioural Neuroscientist & Leading Speaker on Leadership Under Pressure, Decision Making and Resilience.

Speaker Overview

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton is an award-winning firefighter, behavioural neuroscientist, psychologist, and one of the world’s leading speakers on leadership under pressure, decision making, and resilience.

Joining the fire service as a homeless teenager, Sabrina went on to become one of the UK’s most senior female firefighters while completing a PhD in behavioural neuroscience. 

Her groundbreaking research explores how people make decisions under extreme pressure and how leaders can improve judgement when the stakes are highest.

Having commanded major emergency incidents and advised organisations on leadership and crisis response, Sabrina combines frontline experience with scientific research to help leaders make better decisions, build resilient teams, and perform effectively in uncertain environments.

Her keynotes blend compelling personal stories with evidence-based insights, giving audiences practical strategies for improving decision making, managing pressure, and leading with confidence during periods of change.

Popular Speaking Topics

Leadership Under Pressure

Discover how effective leaders make sound decisions when facing uncertainty, complexity, and high-pressure situations.

Decision Making in High-Stakes Environments

Learn the science behind human judgement and how to reduce cognitive bias when making critical business decisions.

Building Resilient Teams

Explore the behaviours and leadership practices that enable teams to remain calm, adaptable, and effective during periods of disruption.

Human Behaviour and Performance Under Pressure

Understand how stress affects thinking, communication, and performance, and how leaders can help teams perform at their best.

Crisis Leadership and Organisational Resilience

Learn practical lessons from emergency response that help organisations prepare for uncertainty and respond with confidence.

Psychological Safety and Speaking Up

Examine how leaders can create environments where people feel confident to challenge assumptions, share concerns, and contribute better decisions.

Why Book Sabrina Cohen-Hatton for Your Event?

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton offers a unique combination of real-world leadership experience and academic expertise, giving organisations practical tools for leading through uncertainty and complexity.

Her experience commanding major emergency incidents provides authentic insight into decision making when the pressure is at its highest, while her research explains the science behind why people think and behave the way they do under stress.

Rather than focusing solely on resilience, Sabrina helps leaders understand how to improve judgement, communicate effectively, and build cultures where better decisions become the norm.

Her keynotes are engaging, thought-provoking, and highly relevant for organisations navigating transformation, disruption, and increasingly complex operating environments.

She is particularly effective for leadership conferences, executive offsites, public sector events, financial services, healthcare, infrastructure, and organisations focused on resilience, risk, and organisational performance.

Audiences Leave With

• A practical framework for making better decisions under pressure.
• A deeper understanding of how stress influences judgement and behaviour.
• Strategies for building resilient, adaptable teams.
• Techniques for improving leadership during uncertainty and change.
• Practical ways to create cultures of trust, confidence, and psychological safety.

Speaking Style

Authentic, insightful, and highly engaging. Sabrina combines extraordinary personal experiences with behavioural science and practical leadership lessons, making complex psychological concepts accessible and immediately applicable to modern organisations.

• Ideal Audiences
• Leadership Teams.
• Executive Conferences.
• Corporate Conferences and Offsites.
• HR, L&D and Talent Teams.
• Transformation and Change Programmes.
• Risk, Safety and Operational Leadership Teams.
• Public Sector and Emergency Services Conferences.
• Women in Leadership Events.

Key Takeaway

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton helps organisations improve leadership, judgement, and resilience by combining the science of decision making with real-world experience from some of the most demanding environments imaginable.

Her work enables leaders to make better decisions, build stronger teams, and perform with confidence when uncertainty and pressure are at their greatest.

Book Sabrina Cohen-Hatton For Your Event

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton is one of the UK’s leading voices on leadership under pressure, decision making, and organisational resilience, helping leaders understand how to perform at their best when the stakes are highest.

Drawing on her experience as a senior firefighter, behavioural neuroscientist, and psychologist, she delivers practical insights that help organisations improve judgement, strengthen leadership, and build resilient, high-performing cultures.

Audiences leave with evidence-based strategies they can apply immediately to improve decision making, manage pressure, and lead teams more effectively through change and uncertainty.

Whether speaking to executive teams, leadership conferences, transformation programmes, or organisations operating in complex environments, Sabrina delivers a compelling combination of powerful storytelling, scientific insight, and practical business application.

Contact us today to check availability and learn how Sabrina Cohen-Hatton can help your organisation build stronger leaders and more resilient teams.