Elizabeth Fierman
Director, Chile Office, and Senior Mediator
Elizabeth (Betsy) Fierman is a mediator, facilitator, trainer, and researcher with 15 years of experience in the field of conflict management and collaborative problem solving. She has helped a range of organizations to address socio-environmental conflicts and design and implement public participation and multi-stakeholder engagement processes. A key focus of her work is facilitating constructive engagement between communities, companies, and government agencies. Based in Chile, Betsy is director of CBI’s Chile office. She has also worked with a variety of Chilean institutions, and has taught courses on alternative dispute resolution at the Universidad de Chile, the Pontifica Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, and the Universidad Diego Portales. She is affiliated faculty at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and a member of the Global Mediation Panel of the United Nations Office of the Ombudsman.
Areas of Focus
A key focus of Betsy’s work is assisting communities, companies, and authorities to engage in constructive dialogue, for example around sustainable development, public policy, and projects that generate social and environmental impacts for local and Indigenous communities. She designs and facilitates dialogue processes that provide space for these stakeholders to address past grievances, identify and address current problems, and create solutions for moving forward. She also conducts studies and conflict assessments to help different stakeholders understand existing and potential conflicts associated with these issues. As a trainer, Betsy has worked with community leaders, government agencies, and private companies to help build capacity for negotiation and dialogue.
Exemplary Projects
- Free, Prior, Informed Consent in the Aquaculture Sector: working with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Indigenous leaders, and aquaculture companies to improve how the ASC's global standard addresses Indigenous rights.
- Balancing Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Lake Llanquihue Basin: facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogue to develop consensus recommendations for protecting Chile's second biggest lake while also fostering sustainable development.
- Circular Economy in Chile: developing a new policy for circular economy through a participatory process.
- Voluntary Early Participation Agreements Program: supporting Chile's Agency for Sustainability and Climate Change in piloting a program that promotes dialogue between investment projects and local communities, both as facilitator and advisor.
- Social Context Studies: understanding social risks around three new renewable energy projects in Chile.
Clients
The following is a partial list of clients:
- Acción Empresas
- Agency for Sustainability and Climate Change of Chile
- Aquaculture Stewardship Council
- Climate Action Teams
- DEG
- Environment Ministry of Chile
- Energy Ministry of Chile
- Environmental Assessment Service of Chile
- Fundación Avina
- Fundación Colunga
- Fundación Chile Lagos Limpios
- Inter-American Development Bank
- Monterrey Bay Aquarium
- SQM Lithium
- WWF
Education and Affiliations
Betsy holds a Master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a Bachelor’s degree from Haverford College. She is a certified mediator by the State of Massachusetts and is a certified facilitator for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. She is also a member of the Global Mediation Panel of the United Nations Office of the Ombudsman. A native of Boston, USA, she is bilingual in English and Spanish.