2009 ACR EPP Section Election

Association for Conflict Resolution
Environment and Public Policy Section

2009 Election Results

Online voting for the Environment and Public Policy Section (EPP) 2009 Leadership Council (LC) election concluded on September 4, 2009.  Elections were for the Section Co-Chair who will serve for two years and four At-Large Members of the EPP Leadership Council.  Three of the four At-Large seats carry with them two-year terms; the fourth At-Large seat carries a one-year term because it represents the remainder of the term of an EPP Council member who stepped down mid-cycle.

...and the winners are...

John C. Jostes - elected as ACR EPP Section co-chair for a two-year term (2009-2011)

Experience as EPP Practitioner:  My practice in the field dates back to the mid- and late 1980’s, when I obtained an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (1989) where my specialization was negotiation and public disputes.  I have mediated and facilitated a wide range of major and minor cases including:

• US 101 Corridor Alternatives Assessment ( 1992-96)
• Burbank Airport Terminal Relocation (1996-97)
• Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Plan (1998 -2006)
• Channel Islands NMS Marine Reserves Working Group (1999-2001)
• Ballona Wetlands Restoration Program (2004-present)
• Assorted City, County and Community Plan Updates (1994 – present)

My practice includes a focus on marine reserves, coastal management, endangered species management, water supply and quality, transportation planning, growth and development, and intergovernmental collaboration.  I have been a member of the USIECR roster since its inception. I was also invited to contribute facilitation support to the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation in 2005.

Interest in Leadership Involvement in the EPP Section:  I have been a member of SPIDR/ACR since 1989 and have attended eight of the past thirteen EPP Section Conferences, and contributed to conference planning in the last three.  I was approached by Tom Fee in 2004 and took responsibility for conference planning shortly thereafter, participating on the Interim Leadership Council from that year through 2006 at which time, the Cambridge EPP conference was held.  I subsequently supported the 2007 conference planning efforts in sponsoring the Florida Conference in 2007, although to a lesser degree.  After the May 2008 ECR/EPP conference, I again took a major leadership role in conference planning for the recent 2009 conference in Denver, focusing on Climate Change and Deliberative Democracy. I have a continued interest in seeing the EPP Section show leadership in representing its members as a section of ACR, and have a particular interest in the Section’s contribution to adaptation issues related to climate change, regional collaboration, and strategic planning.

Other Relevant Information

• Sole practitioner based in Santa Barbara California
• Negotiation and Bargaining Course - MIT Summer Session (1986)
• Recipient of the 1993 Distinguished Leadership Award (Central Coast Section of the APA)
• Member of the American Institute of Certified Planners
• Adjunct Lecturer at the UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
• Founding Lecturer of UCSB Extension’s Mediation and Negotiation Certificate Program

Suzanne Schwartz - elected to an at-large seat carrying a two-year term (2009-1011)

Experience as EPP Practitioner: As the environmental program director for the University of Texas Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution (CPPDR), I focus on promoting the use of conflict resolution and consensus processes for Texas state and local government, primarily in the environmental arena.  My projects have included a stakeholder process to achieve consensus in the design of instream flow studies, working with federal and Texas agencies to streamline water permitting processes while ensuring environmental protection,  community involvement in decisions for a highly controversial highway design,  and bringing parties back together in a stalemated neighborhood planning project. I teach a course in governmental dispute resolution in the UT School of Law, where I also am developing a course on environmental collaborative processes.  This summer I will be co-teaching multiparty negotiation to both University of Texas law and graduate students and Asian post-graduate students in Japan in a course exploring post-Kyoto climate change and negotiation.  I serve on the board of the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association, a group seeking to promote quality mediation in Texas through voluntary credentialing.

Interest in Serving ACR/EPP Sector:  The EPP Section has played an important role in my transition from a career in the public sector to a career providing mediation and facilitation to the public sector.  I met many members of the EPP Section when I attended an ACR meeting on, literally, the second day of my job at CPPDR.  Since that time, the section and its members have provided a focus and encouragement as I explored the field of public/ environmental dispute resolution.  I find the EPP section to be dynamic and involving, and hope, by participating on the leadership council, to help advance its tradition of service to and inspiration for its members and the field.

Other Items of Interest:  I began work in the mediation field in 1991 as a volunteer in a county dispute resolution center.  I was fortunate to experience the use of consensus and stakeholder processes within an organization as general counsel for a Texas’ state water agency that embraced these concepts, both internally in its own workings and externally with the public.  So, consensus building and facilitative processes have been part of my professional life for a long time.  On a personal level, I’m an avid swimmer and gardener, and love the outdoors.

Turner Odell - elected to an at-large seat carrying a two-year term (2009-1011)

Experience as EPP Practitioner: I am the Natural Resources Program Manager for Oregon Consensus, a university-based program for public policy consensus and dispute resolution located in the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State University.  I have been an attorney for 20 years and for the last 10 years have turned my practice toward the facilitation and mediation of complex public policy issues.  After spending most of my early career as an advocate for organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, I realized that the areas where I made the greatest progress were frequently those where I engaged in less litigious and more collaborative approaches.  In 2000 I went to work as a Senior Attorney for the Environmental Law Institute and began to do some convening and facilitating of environmental policy dialogues.  In 2004 I joined RESOLVE as a senior mediator in Portland Oregon where I benefited from additional, rigorous training and leaped into conducting a host of complex national and regional processes.  I worked on several projects with Oregon Consensus and became interested in their programmatic approach to growing the use of consensus-based decision making.  In 2007 I was asked to join the team at OC where I continue the practice of public policy mediation and also work to inspire and cultivate a culture of consensus-based decision making on environmental issues among local, state, federal, and tribal decision makers in Oregon. 

Interest in Serving ACR/EPP Sector:  Since I first began attending EPP conferences a number of years ago, I have found the section to be a great source of inspiration, learning, support, and camaraderie.  Over that time I have seen the energy and sophistication of the of this group flourish.  It is a great forum for EPP mediators of all levels to learn from each other and to foster a collective energy supporting the practice and practitioners.  I also see great potential and opportunity for this organization to do nationally what the OC program strives to do in our state – grow the practice and help foster a culture of consensus-based decision making among public policy decision makers.  I have been benefitting from the good work this organization has done and I would like the opportunity to pitch in and help.  I bring a somewhat different perspective (having been both a process participant/advocate and now a convener/mediator) and an interest in building on the good work already happening at the Council.

Kevin Bryan - elected to an at-large seat carrying a two-year term (2009-1011)

Experience as EPP Practitioner: Kevin Bryan is a Mediator at the Meridian Institute, where he works with other professionals to design, convene, and facilitate multi-party problem solving interactions to resolve public policy problems of mutual interest. Mr. Bryan helps parties identify critical issues, build relationships and trust, construct innovative solutions, and implement the results. His projects address homeland security, public infrastructure provision in developing nations, climate change, and community-based research. Participants in these efforts include stakeholders from government, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations.

Previously, Mr. Bryan worked as a Facilitator and Senior Coordinator for the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC) at RESOLVE, Inc. In this position he identified opportunities for the NWCC to work with individuals and stakeholder groups on wind energy issues. Mr. Bryan has also worked with federal agencies to help establish guidelines for stakeholder involvement in environmental decision making and with local governments to develop solutions to implement energy efficiency improvements for small businesses and residences.

Kevin received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Howard University in 1994 and received the Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship in 1996 while undertaking graduate work there in public administration. Kevin was selected in 2002 as a fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program (ELP), a member of its Board of Trustees in 2004, and its Board President in 2008.

Interest in Serving ACR/EPP Sector:  Our field is in a state of transition, one that will have significant implications for the breadth and depth of work we do.  The ACR EPP section is uniquely position to consider these implications and responses to them, through both critical thinking in our   and action in our everyday work.  The leadership of the ACR EPP section will have the opportunity over the next several years to influence that thinking through its conferences, workshops, and other activities.  I bring unique experiences and skills to the ACR EPP Leadership Council.  In my work, I have participated in more typical facilitation and mediation processes, as well as projects that push the envelope of what many practitioners consider “traditional consensus building processes”.  I have also been active in social change movements and recognize the importance of the work we do in those efforts.  These experiences give me a perspective that I believe can be of significant benefit to our field as we consider how we will adapt to a changing body politic and shifting political and policy structures.

Jennifer Peyser - elected to the at-large seat carrying a one-year term (2009-2010) 

Experience as EPP Practitioner: I am a Senior Mediator in RESOLVE’s Washington, DC office, and have over eight years of experience facilitating and mediating multi-party policy dialogues and consensus processes. As a facilitator and trainer, I have worked locally, nationally, and internationally on projects addressing energy, natural resources management, supply chain and product certification, drinking water, and land use planning. Current projects include facilitation of an EPA federal advisory subcommittee on environmental stewardship, an investigation on the transparency of the electronics industry’s supply chain, and stakeholder engagement on wind energy for two state energy offices.

In addition to project work, I am a member of RESOLVE’s senior management team. I am also a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, ACR’s EPP Section, and am on the National Roster for Environmental Dispute Resolution and Consensus Building Professionals. I earned my master’s degree in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Environmental Policy Group, where I completed my thesis on public involvement in natural resource management decision-making. During my time at MIT, I was a Graduate Associate at the Consensus Building Institute.

Interest in Serving ACR/EPP Sector:  As a member of the “mid-level professionals” planning group and the June 2009 EPP conference committee, I have enjoyed the opportunity to move between my facilitation projects and activities focused on the field as a whole. I see participation in the Leadership Council as a way to build on this work. Specifically, I am interested in taking on a leadership role in the EPP section for the opportunities to:

• contribute to the field and reflect on our practice through committee activities and issues of focus such as diversity, ethics, communications, and professional development;
• highlight the perspective of EPP members (or prospective members) who are new to the field, and consider how to reach and support these individuals; and
• build relationships, work with, and learn from colleagues across the field.

I understand and commit to the responsibilities of this position, and look forward to the chance to be an active at-large member of the council on calls, committee work, supporting the principles of and action on ACR’s Diversity and Equity statement, and promoting EPP membership needs within ACR.