We’re a nonprofit institute founded on the belief that collaborative processes can help parties address difficult problems and achieve wise, fair, and durable outcomes. We do this by providing skillful, independent, and non-partisan assistance to: support meaningful and credible engagement by those affected, guide hard but constructive conversations, integrate relevant information and science, and pursue innovative mutual gains solutions.

Our practice is based on the Mutual Gains Approach, which focuses on helping parties generate mutually beneficial outcomes. Developed by CBI’s founder Lawrence Susskind and the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, this approach uncovers underlying interests and concerns, explores options, and packages those options to create fair and durable agreements.

Our staff go well beyond running a meeting or delivering off-the-shelf training. We work closely with clients to custom-design processes based on in-depth conversations with conveners, stakeholders, and rights-holders. To help stakeholders arrive at their desired endpoints, we use a host of collaborative tools, seek input continually, and adapt processes throughout our work.

We emphasize the importance of relationships and trust for achieving durable outcomes. We believe in giving voice and influence to the ideas and values of people affected by the issue at hand, including those who are often excluded from decision-making, to ensure informed, innovative, and practical outcomes. CBI’s AARC framework—which centers acknowledgment, agency, reciprocity, and clarity—helps guide our work.

Our staff thrive in environments that require not only sophisticated facilitation expertise and strong analytical abilities, but also extensive subject-matter knowledge. We immerse ourselves in the substance of issues, so we’re fluent in their legal, technical, and policy dimensions. This combination of skills and knowledge enables us to work in-depth with stakeholders to discover solutions.

We work at every scale: locally, regionally, at the state or provincial level, nationally, and internationally. This can mean helping New England coastal towns prepare for climate change, supporting work toward a national energy policy in Chile, or advancing dispute resolution mechanisms for the International Finance Corporation. Working at multiple levels allows us to expand our tool-box, draw connections, and share knowledge across scales and boundaries.

We believe in moving our field and our own practice forward by continually refining how we think and work. Our board members are foundational thinkers in the field. Our staff write articles and books, deliver lectures around the world, and participate in negotiation research. Through our staff practice sessions, we meet monthly to reflect on lessons learned and challenges met. And then, we put those lessons to work.

We promote collaboration to create meaningful positive change in people’s lives.

We seek to include the voices and perspectives of groups and individuals affected by the issues at hand. We work to ensure that all stakeholders have the capacities they need to participate effectively, particularly those who have been excluded in the past. 

We work on behalf of all stakeholders participating in a collaborative effort.  We maintain organizational and professional independence in our governance, funding sources, and ongoing relationships with many different stakeholder representatives. 

We promote transparent collaboration, where goals, guidelines, and responsibilities are clear to all participants. 

We catalyze the creative thinking of groups to generate new ideas and explore novel solutions, while continuing to build our own new tools and approaches for advancing our practice.

We support the use of credible and legitimate scientific and technical information to encourage informed group learning, deliberation, and solutions.