Capacity Building

Examples of Work

Alexandria Water General Authority Ombuds Program
Mentoring and Training
Analysis, advising, and training for the Alexandria Water General Authority (AWGA) in the areas of conflict resolution and strategic planning. Worked with Egyptian counterparts to write an extensive conflict assessment and proposed workplan, including: 1) assistance to AWGA to prepare for negotiations with national ministries, regional governates, and large customers and vendors; 2) creation and training of an ombuds office; 3) establishment and support of a citizens' advisory panel; and 4) mentoring for AWGA managers.

Cleveland Air Toxics Pilot Project, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Indoor Environments Division, Washington, DC, and Cleveland, OH
Evaluation
Designed and conducted an evaluation of an EPA multi-office pilot project designed to convene and work with a community stakeholder group to identify air toxics and implement projects to reduce risks from air toxics.

Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program Capacity Building
Training & Systems Design
Assisted Program in adjusting stakeholder involvement mechanisms to foster long-term community engagement in implementation of the Program’s “Bays Plan.” Conducted interviews and provided recommendations on the best way to proceed, which resulted in the Bays Council adjusting its stakeholder committee structure. Provided facilitation training for the chairs of teams and developed recommendations to help update the Council’s primary functions and operating procedures to better align the Council with the work of the Implementation Teams.

Diversity Mentoring Pilot Project
Goal Setting and Coaching
The Diversity Mentoring Pilot Project was created to increase the diversity of the field by helping practitioners of color gain access to conflict resolution networks as well as learn skills specific to the field by matching senior environmental impartial interveners in formal mentoring relationships with practitioners from under-represented racial and ethnic backgrounds (“learning partners”).

Georgia Pacific Corporation
Coaching
Coached staff in collaborative leadership skills, cooperative problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution and interest-based negotiation.

U.S. Forest Service Partnership Capacity Assessment Tool
Assessment
Designed and implemented an assessment tool to assist program units and teams to determine their readiness for conducting partnerships and collaborative work. Designed and conducted three focus groups to test the tool for use for different sets of Forest Service staff management.