Kate Stewart, MBA, PhD
Kate is the founder and CEO of SSES, having helped people transform conflict to opportunity for over 25 years. She has extensive national and international experience in design-build partnering megaprojects, organizational dispute resolution system design, multiparty stakeholder engagement, mediation, and collaborative skills training and coaching. In addition to expertise in the defense and healthcare industries, Kate is a recognized author and expert in narrative-based conflict resolution. Currently a faculty member at Montana State University Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Kate teaches Negotiation, Strategic Communication, Mediation, and Collaboration skills in leading graduate business schools nationally and internationally.
Kate is a Certified Virtual Facilitator (International Institute for Facilitation) and Certified Mediator (Montana Mediation Association).
Aimee Gourlay, JD
Aimee, CEO of Mediation Center, has helped organizations resolve disputes, solve problems and manage conflict for over 25 years. Her specialties include understanding systemic roots of conflict and supporting people to communicate across worldviews. Well known for her work facilitating processes with high emotions and multiple stakeholders, she performs conflict assessments, process/systems design consulting, and facilitation/mediation for issues including land use, watershed management, NPOs, systemic racial discrimination, public resources, policy dialogue, environmental, state/local government. She teaches Negotiation and Mediation skills as a Senior Fellow at the nationally-ranked Dispute Resolution Institute at Mitchell Hamline Law School, and serves on the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution National Roster of Environmental Dispute Resolution and Consensus Building Professionals and the Transportation sub-roster.
Emerson Bull Chief, PhD
Emerson is the owner and manager of 7 Bison Cultural Consulting. Dr. Bull Chief received his PhD at Montana State University in Anthropology in American Studies and was the former Tribal Historical Preservation Officer for the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation and a former project coordinator for the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society program. He currently assists tribes and oil pipeline companies to find mutually beneficial ways forward.
Larry Schooler, PhD
Larry created and managed the public engagement and alternative dispute resolution division for the City of Austin, Texas for eight years. He now works as a mediator, facilitator, and public engagement consultant for many of the nation’s most forward-thinking cities and organizations as President of Public Participation Partners. Larry has designed and executed a broad range of innovative public engagement projects, ranging from televised Town Hall meetings to an award-winning online engagement portal.
Chris Hahn, PhD, MBA
Chris is a highly-trained professional mediator and facilitator. As CEO of Constructive Agreement, LLC, he has mediated and facilitated hundreds of cases. Dr. Hahn is a former senior member of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Association. His career includes positions of manager and professional negotiator of mineral land contracts for Conoco, Inc. and Homestake Mining Company, and president and co-founder of a server-level software company. Dr. Hahn also authored a graduate-level textbook on qualitative research.
Col. Jeanne Arnold, USA, ret.
Jeanne is a recognized trailblazer in senior level strategic and operational decision support techniques and critical thinking. She excels in the ability to think strategically and translate that strategy into results. She challenges assumptions and views problems from multiple perspectives, helping stakeholders craft enduring, game-changing solutions. Jeanne has over 30 years’ experience flying helicopters and leading people, teams, and organizations to achieve mission success, including numerous deployments worldwide.
Col. Kevin Benson, PhD, USA, ret.
Kevin is a consultant and previously served as lead red teaming instructor at the U.S. Army’s University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies and as director of the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) at Fort Leavenworth. A decorated Army officer, Benson was the Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of planning for Coalition ground forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Cobra II, leading the team that developed the invasion plan for Iraq
Darrin Old Coyote
Darrin is the former Chairman of the Crow (Apsáalooke)Tribe and owner of Old Coyote Consulting. He is currently a Governmental Affairs Advisor for The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikira Nation. Mr. Old Coyote formerly served 12 years as an elected official and in the roles of Crow language teacher and Crow Tribal Cultural Affairs Director, and was instrumental in crafting the Crow Tribal Historic Preservation Act that created the Crow Tribe’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office.