FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Posted: 12/22/2009
Contact: Libby Washburn, 505.332.9079
Email: washburn@udall.gov
December 21, 2009
SUZANNE ORENSTEIN TO BECOME DIRECTOR OF THE
UDALL FOUNDATION'S WASHINGTON, D.C., OFFICE
Suzanne Orenstein, a well known environmental conflict resolution practitioner and manager, has been named to head the Udall Foundation's new Washington, D.C., office beginning on January 4, 2010. Orenstein’s primary duties will relate to the work of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, a major Udall Foundation program.
"Suzanne Orenstein brings to the Udall Foundation a commitment to conflict resolution processes and collaborative decision making," said Ellen Wheeler, executive director of the Udall Foundation. "We are very excited to have Suzanne join us." Wheeler said the Tucson-based Udall Foundation decided to open a Washington office in order to better respond to requests for assistance from federal agencies and other stakeholders related to conflict resolution and collaborative problem-solving, as well as to support the Foundation’s other programs, such as its Native American Congressional Internship and Parks in Focus.
Orenstein is a facilitator with over twenty years of experience working with groups on agreement-focused negotiation and other collaboration efforts. She has facilitated and mediated multi-party processes addressing the full range of environmental and public policy issues, working at the national, state, regional and local levels. She also has facilitated several Federal Advisory Groups and negotiated rulemaking processes, and has conducted conflict assessments on a full range of controversial topics.
Orenstein is the former Vice President of RESOLVE, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., which focuses on conflict resolution for public policy issues. She is also the former Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator for the Department of the Attorney General in Massachusetts. Most recently, she was a senior consultant to the Consensus Building Institute, and a private practitioner based in Massachusetts.
The U.S. Institute is a federal program established in 1998 by the U.S. Congress to assist parties in resolving environmental, natural resource and public lands conflicts. The U.S. Institute serves as an impartial, nonpartisan institution providing professional expertise, services and resources to all parties involved in environmental disputes. Since its creation, the U.S. Institute has been involved in hundreds of environmental disputes around the country.
The Udall Foundation is an independent federal agency based in Tucson, Arizona, and Washington, D.C. In addition to the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, it operates scholarship, fellowship and internship programs for studies related to the environment and Native American issues. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
More information on the U.S. Institute and the Foundation can be found at www.ecr.gov and www.udalll.gov.
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