Bob Stains

Bob Stains, founder and principal of Bob Stains and Associates, Conflict Transformation, has over 37 years of experience in consulting, coaching, training, facilitating, mediating and non-profit management. He has trained over 20,000 people in dialogue, conflict resolution and communication skill-building and worked with clients from across the US and 17 other countries. His clients have included organizations such as the Harvard Negotiation Project, The US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, the Kennedy School of Government and the School of Public Health at Harvard University, the House of Bishops of the US Episcopal Church, the National Institute of Mental Health, Glendale, CA Presbyterian Church, NASA, Southern Vermont College, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the BioLogos Foundation, Fork Films, the Center for Creative Dialogue in Taipei and the CoRe Group in Manila, among many others. Bob brings his 30 years of experience as a mediator and his 22 years with The Public Conversations Project (now Essential Partners) using Reflective Structured Dialogue to help people cross deep divisions while engaging the most incendiary issues. He is recognized for his collaborative, client-centered approach, his teaching and facilitation skills and the wisdom of his long experience working to bring individuals and groups together in spite of deep conflict in varying settings and cultures.

Bob assembles teams in direct response to client’s needs, drawing from the extensive, international network of seasoned professionals he has worked with over the years. Currently, Bob holds many esteemed roles. He is a Senior Associate at Essential Partners (formerly Public Conversations Project) in Cambridge, MA. In addition, Bob has been serving as a consultant to the Harvard Negotiation Project at Harvard Law School since 2002. He is a Guest Scholar Practitioner at Kansas State University’s Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement Program and Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University School of Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. He was a co-founder of the Family Dinner Project and sits on the Executive Board of The Democracy Imperative. In the past he has served as a Mediator, Consultant, and Mediator Trainer for the US Postal Service REDRESS Program and National Director of Training and Technical Assistance for The Better Homes Foundation.

Companies

• Founder Transforming-Dialogue.com (2021)
• Principal Bob Stains and Associates, Conflict Transformation (2017)
• Senior Associate Essential Partners (fka Public Conversations Project) (1995)
• Visiting Researcher Boston University School of Theology Religion and Conflict Transformation Program (2018 — 2022)
• Adjunct Professor Mitchell Hamline School of Law (2021 — 2021)
• Adjunct Instructor Tom Porter Prorgam in Religion and Conflict Transformation, Boston University School of Theology (2020 — 2020)
• Adjunct Faculty Harvard Divinity School (2017 — 2019)
• Consultant Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School (2002 — 2016)
• Adjuct Faculty Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University School of Law (2015 — 2015)