Coleman-Graham
Life would be so much easier if everyone communicated the way I do! Haven’t you had that thought? That if everyone was like me and communicated the right way, like I do, everything would be so stress free! Well, there is no magic wand to wave to make that happen. Instead, let’s pull back the curtain and take…
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COLEMAN-GRAHAM is me, Rita Coleman Graham, facilitator, trainer and environmental or agricultural dispute mediator. Over the course of a prior 35-year career with the PA Department of Environmental Protection I evolved into this position. The foundation for COLEMAN-GRAHAM began early on for me seizing opportunities to learn and grow as a way to challenge myself and help others in my agency deal with the never-ending conflict of our day-to-day jobs. Becoming a part-time Conflict…
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(taken from my full day workshop on Effective Public Meetings) The first step for improving your meetings and making them effective is to achieve a clear understanding of 2 things; what is the meeting purpose and what are the desired outcomes for your event. From there the type of meeting and the public participation process can be determined. To begin, let’s consider this question, “What is public participation?” Public participation is a process, not a single event,…
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During my 35-year career with the Pa Department of Environmental Protection, I advanced from technical specialist in the fields of soil science and watershed management to the first woman program manager for the southwest region. During those years, I seized many opportunities to expand my capabilities by becoming a facilitator, mediator, college instructor, and communication and conflict resolution trainer. Moving through…
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