About

This blog springs from over thirty interviews I conducted with mediators for a research project supported through the University of Washington.  There are many insights to glean from mediators wrestling with how to serve, support, intervene, facilitate, and transform how people understand and resolve conflict.  In this blog, I explore how to harness the power of communication and mediation in the little conversations that make up everyday life.

I am passionate about civil communication for daily life.  My hope is that this blog will be both invitation and spark to all kinds of dialogue about civility in different contexts.  I welcome your insights, resources, and ideas on the search for common ground and how to unlock communication processes that foster mutuality, kindness, tolerance, and inclusion.

I am a dispute resolution professional, certified through the King County Dispute Resolution Center (KCDRC) and Washington Mediation Association (WMA), serving most recently as program manager for the Small Claims Court Pre-Trial Mediation program through the KCDRC in collaboration with King County District Court (KCDC).  I have a Ph.D. in Communication Studies, teaching a range of courses, including Communication in Small Groups, Conflict and Cooperation, Gender and Communication, and Persuasion, most recently for the University of Washington (UW).  I am currently developing my own private practice as an organizational development consultant and working on a book on how the rhetorical arts of mediation are connected to emotionally intelligent outcomes.

I look forward to your feedback.  Let’s move civil conversations forward.