SUZANNE GHAIS
American University
School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
sg1203a@student.american.edu
303.913.5030 mobile
303.431.0767 home/office
EDUCATION
American University School of International Service
Ph.D. Candidate, Fall 2010–present
Dissertation title: Inclusivity and Peacemaking in Civil Wars
George Mason University, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Master of Science, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, 1996
Focus on ethnic, international, and cross-cultural conflict
Brown University
Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, linguistics, 1990
American University of Cairo
Arabic language and Middle East Studies, summer and semester abroad, 1988
L’Université de Paris—La Sorbonne
Certificat de Niveau Supérieur, French language, 1985
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
Anthony Wanis-St. John and Suzanne Ghais (2014), “International Conflict Resolution:
‘From Knowledge to Practice and Back Again’,” in Morton Deutsch, Peter T.
Coleman, and Eric C. Marcus, eds. Handbook of Conflict Resolution 3rd ed. (San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley), forthcoming.
Kevin P. Clements and Suzanne Ghais (1997), “Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones,” Peace
Review, Vol. 9, No. 2.
Daniel McFarland, Naomi Baden, Catherine Barnes, Berenike Carstarphen, Suzanne
Ghais, and Jamie Notter, eds. (1996), Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Challenges for
the Times, Fairfax, Virginia: Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
Suzanne Ghais Curriculum Vitae, page 1
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Suzanne Ghais (2005), Extreme Facilitation: Guiding Groups through Controversy and
Complexity, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (coauthor with others from CDR Associates and the
Berghof Center for Constructive Conflict Management) (1999), Reaching for Peace:
Lessons Learned from Mott Foundation’s Conflict Resolution Grantmaking.
http://www.mott.org/news/PublicationsArchive/LegacyPublications/Reachin
g%20for%20Peace
U.S. EPA (1998) (actual writers Bernard S. Mayer, Suzanne Ghais, and Julie McKay of
CDR Associates), Resource Guide to Constructive Engagement in the Computers and
Electronics Industry. http://www.epa.gov/publicinvolvement/pdf/resolve1.pdf
Bernard S. Mayer and Suzanne Ghais (1997), “Principles of Designing Employee
Grievance Procedures,” Human Resource Professional, Vol. 10, No. 5
(September/October).
Suzanne Ghais and Virginia Valova (1997), “Report on Action Evaluation of the Stara
Zagora Multi-Ethnic Commission, Bulgaria.
http://www.ariagroup.com/?page_id=7
Alissa J. Stern and Suzanne Ghais (1997), “Public Participation in Drafting a New
Forestry Law in Bolivia,” Interact: The Journal of Public Participation, Vol. 3, No. 1
(July).
Suzanne Ghais and Alissa J. Stern (1996), “Youth Working for Peace in War-Torn
Societies,” AIM: America’s Intercultural Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Winter).
Suzanne Ghais (1993), “Med-Arb: Best of Both Worlds?” BBB Solutions (October).
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Self-Employed Mediator/Facilitator, 2006–2010
 Mediated disputes and facilitated consensus building and public involvement for
federal agencies, nonprofits, and universities
 Conducted projects from start to finish, including contracting, assessment,
intervention design, mediation/facilitation, drafting of agreements or
summaries, and follow up.
 Focus on public policy and organizational issues
 Sample projects:
Suzanne Ghais Curriculum Vitae, page 2
o Co-mediated the negotiation of a groundbreaking agreement between the
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service for joint management of the National Bison Range, a National
Wildlife Refuge previously under full FWS control but subject to the
Tribal Self-Governance Act. Resolved conflict between the two entities
arising from previous attempt at joint management.
o Facilitated a retreat between two faculty groups from different schools
within the same university but with substantially overlapping subject
matter. Resulted in an agreement for limited partnership involving
consolidated degree programs and shared teaching.
o Mediated between two closely interdependent branches within a regional
office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, resulting in improved
coordination, communication, and working relationships.
o Facilitated a retreat to clarify future direction of and improve cohesion
within an academic department.
o Facilitated a public meeting on the siting of a controversial retail
development.
o Facilitated a retreat to address problems and tensions related to change in
the major program of a small federal agency and resulting resource
constraints.
CDR Associates, 1996–2006
 Positions: Executive director and senior program manager 2005–2006; senior
program manager 2004–2006; program manager 1999–2004; program assistant
1997–1999; intern 1996–1997.
 Conducted mediation, facilitation, public involvement, and stakeholder
consensus-building projects for government agencies at all levels (local to
federal), nonprofits, professional service firms, and universities.
 Conducted training courses both for the general public and for client groups in
mediation skills (five-day course), facilitation skills (four-day course), and
conflict resolution skills for managers and leaders (three-day course).
 As (senior) program manager, conducted all aspects of projects including
marketing, proposals, contracting, assessment, facilitation/mediation or training,
evaluation, and follow-up. Also mentored junior staff and participated in
organizational committees, hiring, and decision making.
 As executive director, served as liaison to the Board of Directors, made staffing
and budget decisions, and led a participatory process with the help of outside
consultants to improve the organization’s financial health by instituting a
performance-based compensation system and refining the business-development
process.
 Sample environmental/public policy projects:
o Designed a dispute resolution system to resolve environmental regulation
disputes between the U.S. Air Force and federal, state, and local
Suzanne Ghais Curriculum Vitae, page 3
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regulators, particularly the California Water Quality Control Boards. Use
of the system resulted in resolution of several chronic, site-specific
disputes regarding closing California bases.
o Facilitated a stakeholder consultation group including municipal, state,
and federal officials as well as representatives of environmental and
business associations as part of the environmental impact study for the
possible final segment—the most controversial portion—of a beltway
around the Denver area.
o Convened and co-facilitated stakeholder groups in two metropolitan areas
of Pennsylvania to make consensus recommendations to the state
Department of Environmental Protection on strategies for complying with
standards for ground-level ozone under the federal Clean Air Act, after
strict vehicle emission tests had become extremely controversial. Both
groups of over 30 stakeholder each reached consensus ozone-reduction
plans.
o Successfully mediated a dispute over land-use controls between the U.S.
Air Force and the South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Controls concerning Myrtle Beach former Air Force Base.
o Co-facilitated a negotiated rulemaking process in Pennsylvania to develop
a regulation limiting ozone-forming emissions from degreasing
equipment and solvents.
Sample organizational projects
o Co-facilitated a retreat of the administrator and top leadership of a major
new federal agency to help improve coordination across work groups,
help shift from a crisis or reactive mode to a proactive one, and improve
communication and decision making.
o Facilitated an extensive process to help a radiology practice overcome
internal conflict and regain the confidence of the hospital in which it was
based after infighting had resulted in deep mistrust and the resignation of
three chairmen in four years.
o Co-facilitated four annual staff retreats for a small, highly reputable
political polling and strategy firm. (The firm subsequently grew too large
for all-staff retreats.)
o Facilitated a two-day retreat for a cause-driven nonprofit organization to
address structural and interpersonal communication difficulties,
discomfort of women and minority staff; the leadership’s exercise of
power; and inefficiencies in decision making.
o Facilitated a partnering workshop for the four client agencies and the
contractor team conducting an Environmental Impact Statement on
possible improvements to US36, the road connecting Denver and Boulder.
o Co-facilitated a faculty and staff retreat and follow-up meeting to discuss
the controversial merging of three discipline groups into a new
Suzanne Ghais Curriculum Vitae, page 4
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department under a strategic plan for one of the University of Wyoming’s
colleges.
o Facilitated a series of three meetings of City of Boulder staff (including
union representatives) to help select a slate of health and other insurance
plans for employees.
o Facilitated a board/staff teambuilding and decision-making retreat for a
small nonprofit.
o Co-facilitated a “cooperative problem-solving process” to overcome sharp
division between the Information Technology group and the Acquisitions
group of a federal agency.
o Successfully mediated a conflict between managers overseeing a major
agency program and a separate department that provided support for the
managers’ work at a federal agency.
o Facilitated a two-day strategic planning retreat for employees and external
advisors of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Compliance
Advisor/Ombudsman Office.
o Facilitated a retreat for a small Internet start-up company selling
environmentally and socially responsible products after relationships
among staff had become so strained that they communicated only by email.
Sample international projects
o Served as assistant facilitator in a series of workshops focused on
developing ways to make international environmental negotiations and
dialogues more effective among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The
meeting included representatives of industry, environmental groups,
environmental justice organizations, Native American tribes, federal
regulatory agencies, academics, scientists, and others concerned with
environmental negotiations in North America. Ms. Ghais drafted the
consensus document.
o Served as Action Evaluator of a CDR project on ethnic relations in
Bulgaria, serving as one of a team of Action Evaluators organized by Dr.
Jay Rothman to test this evaluation method.
o Evaluated two conflict resolution projects in the Transcaucasus as part of a
larger project for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to evaluate the
conflict resolution work of Mott grantees in Central and Eastern Europe
and the former Soviet Union. Ms. Ghais conducted on-site assessment of a
peacebuilding project encompassing Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the
Republic of Georgia. Also assessed a program designed to help resolve the
Georgia/South Ossetia conflict through second-track diplomacy.
o Researched the history of Guatemala’s civil war and the role of cadasters
(land surveyors) to help determine their potential role in settling land
disputes. This research was for CDR cofounder Dr. Christopher Moore
Suzanne Ghais Curriculum Vitae, page 5
who was working to help implement agreements on refugee and IDP
return in Guatemala’s peace process.
o Researched, at the request of CDR’s Peter Woodrow, peacebuilding
projects and programs in other countries which could serve as models or
inspiration for CARE Rwanda.
Intern, Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, 1996.
 Assisted in development of program to engage businesses in peace building.
 Assisted in follow-up to conflict resolution training of CARE International
staff in Kenya
 Conducted administrative duties.
 Assisted in fund raising.
Dispute Resolution Training Specialist, Council of Better Business Bureaus (1990–
1995).
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Trained staff and volunteers of Better Business Bureaus (BBBs) nationwide in
arbitration, mediation, negotiation and conflict management.
Mediated consumer/business disputes.
Developed and updated training materials.
Evaluated arbitrators for BBB certification.
Wrote articles on dispute resolution for monthly publication.
Suzanne Ghais Curriculum Vitae, page 6