Staff Bio

Stephanie Kavanaugh first joined the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation) as a Senior Program Manager for the John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution (National Center) in June of 2015 and was promoted to Director of the DC Office of Udall Foundation in January 2017. In January 2020, her titled was changed to Deputy Director of the John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution. As the Deputy Director, she works with the Director of the National Center to manage National Center programs, projects, and staff. Prior to joining the Udall Foundation, Stephanie facilitated collaborative processes at NOAA’s National Ocean Service for eight years. She began her Federal career as an ORISE fellow at the EPA Office of Water. Stephanie has designed and facilitated dozens of ECCR processes on very sensitive topics, including nuclear waste disposal, marine energy facilities, protected species management, and coral reef conservation. She also has trained hundreds of Federal agency staff and contractors in group facilitation, conflict resolution, and collaboration.

Stephanie earned her M.S. degree in Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland in College Park and her B.S. degree in Environmental Biology from Eastern Illinois University. She is an International Association of Facilitators Certified Professional Facilitator, holds a Certificate in Public Participation from the International Association for Public Participation, and has completed over 160 hours of training in facilitation and dispute resolution.